"Chinese doctors bring us hope for recovery" (co building the "the Belt and Road" · the first scene) Expert | Doctor | Hope

Chinese doctors are conducting ophthalmic examinations for patients in Uzbekistan.

Photo by our reporter Xing Xue

Outside the surgical building of the Samarkand branch of the Uzbekistan Ophthalmic Microsurgery Professional Practical Medical Center, a plaque bearing the flags of China and Ukraine hangs. Not long ago, the medical expert group of Peking University People's Hospital launched an 18 day "Health Express International Bright Tour" in Uzbekistan, with Samarkand being one of the stops.

In recent years, the "Health Express International Brightness Trip" has brought Chinese medical teams, equipment and technology abroad, and cooperated with hospitals in countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road" to provide medical services for local people. Last September, China announced at the Samarkand Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that it would provide 2000 free cataract surgeries for the people of the Organization's countries in the next three years. The visit of the Chinese expert group to Ukraine is an important measure to implement this commitment. During the event, the China Ukraine Blindness Prevention Cooperation Center was officially established, which will further enhance academic exchanges and promote long-term and stable cooperation in the medical and health fields between the two sides.

"Chinese doctors' skills are really good"

Early in the morning, local residents waiting for medical treatment lined up in the long corridor of the surgical building. Among them are elderly people leaning on crutches, with gray hair, as well as young children.

68 year old Rajab Ibrahimov is also on the team, and cataracts have tormented him for three years. He waved to the reporter with a smile. Half a month ago, he saw the news on television that Chinese doctors were coming to Samarkand for a free clinic and was very excited. In his opinion, Chinese doctors have rich experience and more reliable skills. "Thank you to China, thank you to Chinese doctors for bringing us hope for recovery."

According to Bao Yongzhen, the leader of the Chinese expert group and deputy director of the ophthalmology department at Peking University People's Hospital, most of the cataract patients who come to the local area for treatment have severe conditions, and the incidence of pseudocapsule detachment syndrome is also high. In addition, there are more local pediatric patients, which means the complexity of the surgery will greatly increase. "These special circumstances are not uncommon in China for a year, but they are very common here."

Anwar, who is almost seventy years old, walked out of the operating room with the help of medical staff. Like every patient who has just completed surgery, she is busy thanking Chinese doctors and her emotions are very excited. "Chinese doctors have really good skills, short preparation time, and fast surgery," Anwar said, rushing from a small town near Samarkand to have the surgery. "I couldn't even imagine such a high-level Chinese doctor treating me for free before."

Samarkand Governor Turdimov thanks China for its selfless assistance and thanks Chinese medical experts for coming all the way to Uzbekistan. He believes that the "Healthy Express International Bright Tour" will bring light and happiness to more cataract patients in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization family.

"Our cooperation has been very smooth."

The success and joy of conducting free consultations can be seen everywhere in the WeChat Moments of Chinese doctors. On the first day of the free clinic, the expert team took a 4-hour train from Tashkent, the capital of Ukraine, to the first stop in the ancient city of Bukhara early in the morning. They then negotiated with the local hospital, conducted examinations, organized and disinfected the operating room. The Chinese team is mainly responsible for ophthalmic surgeries, while the local Ukrainian team is responsible for providing logistical support such as venue. Both sides completed 17 surgeries on the same day. A few days later, the teams from both China and Ukraine became familiar, and sometimes they could complete 56 cataract surgeries in a day.

Nurse Gao Wenjie often ranks first on the WeChat "step count ranking", and her activity range is just a small operating room. "When the workload was high, I walked 18000 steps in the operating room for 8 hours." She said, "As long as we can help the local people, we don't feel tired."

When the reporter saw the group of experts, everyone was in high spirits, with no signs of fatigue from having undergone dozens of surgeries on their faces. The Ukrainian nurse took out her phone and took a photo with the Chinese doctor while resting, and everyone smiled and cooperated one by one.

The professionalism of the Chinese expert group is seen and remembered by Botil Tukhtayev, the head of the Samarkand branch of the Uzbekistan Ophthalmic Microsurgery Professional Practical Medicine Center. "Chinese experts are hardworking and not afraid of challenges. They do their best and arrive the earliest and leave the latest every day." Tukhtayev thanked the Chinese experts for their help to local doctors. "Our doctors here will go to the operating room to observe and learn whenever they have time, and when they encounter any questions, they will seek advice from Chinese experts. Our cooperation is very smooth."

"We can feel the friendship they convey"

Clean and disinfect, drip dilated eye drops, apply anesthesia, use ultrasonic probes to remove cloudy lenses, implant artificial lenses... With the fluent operation of Chinese experts, a complete set of surgeries can be completed in just over ten minutes.

"Our local doctors can only perform 5 surgeries per day, while Chinese doctors can perform 50 surgeries, which surprised everyone." Tukhtayev exclaimed, "Such high efficiency is unbelievable!"

Feeller, who is under 30 years old, is a young backbone of the Samarkand branch of the Uzbekistan Ophthalmic Microsurgery Practical Medical Center. When the Chinese expert group conducted a free clinic in Tashkent in 2019, he happened to be studying for postgraduate studies at a hospital in Tashkent. Seeing that Chinese doctors had no unnecessary skills, Feiler quickly called his family and asked them to take his grandmother from Samarkand to visit the clinic of Chinese experts.

"It wasn't until now that I was able to perform the surgery independently that I realized how skilled the Chinese experts were - fast speed, high quality, and less suffering for patients." This time, under the patient guidance of the Chinese experts, Feiler completed the first complete cataract surgery. Speaking of which, Feiler was particularly moved: "Each of them is very humble and approachable, and every time they ask for their advice, they can get timely answers. Every time Chinese experts come, they can bring huge changes to the local ophthalmology and medical care. This time, the Chinese side has also invested a lot of energy in training local doctors."

The trust of Ukrainian partners and the gratitude of Ukrainian people have greatly inspired Chinese doctors. "I came to Uzbekistan again after nearly 4 years, and surprisingly, there were patients who recognized me. They waved to me from afar and said hello," Bao Yongzhen said. In 2019, Peking University People's Hospital dispatched an expert team to the local free clinic, and Bao Yongzhen was also the team leader at that time.

Gao Wenjie said that every evening when the cleaning work is completed and ready to return to the station, there are still patients waiting at the door, just to express gratitude to the Chinese doctor. "They placed their right hand on their heart and bowed slightly to us. At that moment, although we didn't understand the language, we could feel the friendship they conveyed, and a sense of pride arose in our hearts."

"Our medical institutions all hope to establish long-term cooperative relationships with Chinese partners and look forward to deeper cooperation between the two sides," said Jumaniyozov Davronbek, Director of the Samarkand State Health Bureau