Phnom Penh (FN), Sep. 7 – In September 2022, GX Foundation launched “The Cataract Blindness Elimination Project” in Laos, Cambodia, and Djibouti, having completed over 4,100 cataract surgeries free-of-charge since. Recently, three interns and GX CEO professor Emily Chan Ying Yang visited the project site in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia, travelling to the village to visit recovering patients. Professor Emily Chan is grateful for the support and dedication from the Guangxi medical team while GX Foundation has successfully completed over 1,600 surgeries in Cambodia so far without any postoperative complications. All patients are making satisfactory progress in recovery.
Oxbridge students visited Cambodia for an unprecedented internship to exchange medical skills and knowledge
Since 2019, over 50 Hong Kong university students have trained under GX’s “Field Experiential Learning Programme”. The programme was extended to overseas universities in early-September 2023. Three interns from University of Oxford, Cambridge University and the University of Hong Kong were sent to Prey Veng Province, Cambodia to receive hands-on training in fieldwork experience. During their internship, they were responsible for triaging patients, conducting preoperative questionnaires, and visiting patients’ homes. Through various tasks, the interns developed knowledge on project operations and gained primary experience working in the field. GX CEO professor Emily Chan Ying Yang also visited the field and shared with them some important notes she learnt from her early experiences working in the humanitarian frontline. She encouraged the students to “go outside of Hong Kong and contribute to the mother country”, describing this programme as an unprecedented learning opportunity for both the medical team and Hong Kong students to exchange and learn from each other in a foreign country — thus developing the GX and Belt-and-Road spirit of “sharing”.
Eliminating the cataract blindness backlog cases in Pea Reang District
Pea Reang District is one of the 12 administrative areas in Prey Veng Province. Since last December, patients in this district have been receiving surgeries in GX’s Mobile Eye Treatment Centre. Throughout the past few months, GX Foundation has been partnering with local health departments extensively to optimise transport arrangements for patients. So far, GX has completed hundreds of surgeries in the district — so many that local officials have even reported their difficulties searching for new patients. CEO professor Emily Chan Ying Yang commented, “This is such an important milestone for GX’s project in Cambodia. GX will continue working with the medical team to eliminate the backlog of cataract cases in Prey Veng Province.”
The surgical outcomes were satisfactory that patient’s vision was greatly improved
The Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has sent a 3rd medical team to support GX’s project in Cambodia, where over 1,600 surgeries have been completed so far without any postoperative complications.
All patients are making satisfactory progress in recovery. In general, the preoperative visual acuity among patients was lower than 0.1 and raised to 0.6 or above after the cataract surgery. CEO professor Emily Chan Ying Yang is thankful to all Guangxi medical personnel who supported the cataract project in Cambodia. She said, “I am very grateful to the Guangxi medical team for their contribution to the project, especially the first cohort who went abroad during the pandemic and showed their ‘fearlessness of hardship, dedication, and life-saving boundless love’.”
Apart from the ongoing projects in East Africa, Laos, Cambodia and Djibouti, GX will be launching two other projects in West Africa—Mauritania and Senegal—by the end of September. GX strives to restore the sight of local patients, develop friendships with other countries through medical assistance, and foster “people-to-people” connectivity.
=FRESH NEWS
