President He Wei sends "health gift" to poor counties to solve the phenomenon of "blindness caused by poverty and return to poverty because of blindness" 

• 2019-10-07 12:49:03

         On March 28, the "Anhui trip of non-CPC academicians and overseas students" organized by the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee was launched in Hefei. As a member of the inspection service delegation, He Wei, director of He Eye Specialist Hospital , will take part in the survey and service activities in Anhui Province. 

        In order to solve the problem of "blindness caused by poverty and return to poverty due to blindness" among the poor in remote areas, on the morning of 28 March, Hebei Xiong’an He Eye Specialist Hospital  Management Co., Ltd. and Shitai County people's government signed the Shitai County "Ophthalmic Medical precision Poverty Alleviation" public welfare project cooperation agreement. The public welfare project plans to take 2 years to build Shitai County into the first blindness & cataract-free demonstration county in Anhui Province, as well as myopia prevention and control demonstration county. 

        Shitai County is located in the south of Anhui Province and the western mountainous area of southern Anhui Province. It integrates the deep mountain areas of Anhui Province, the key counties of poverty alleviation in the reservoir area, the key counties of the state poverty alleviation and development work, the new round of national poverty alleviation and development key counties, and the deep poverty counties of Anhui Province. It is also one of the nine state-level poor counties in Anhui Province that plan to take off their hats in 2019. 

         The medical resources of local ophthalmology are scarce, and the distribution is seriously uneven. Most of the medical resources are concentrated in cities and towns, and it is difficult for the rural population, which accounts for more than 70% of the population of the county, to enjoy ophthalmic medical resources nearby. In addition, the local grass-root technical level is low, unable to meet the basic ophthalmic medical care and eye public health services. 

        In Shitai County, the eye health problems of children and adolescents cannot be ignored. 

        According to statistics, Shitai County, a total of 24 schools at all levels (excluding kindergartens), about 9,000 students. According to the National Visual Health report released by the China Health Development Research Center of Peking University in 2016, more than half of the children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 in Shitai County suffer from ametropia. It is worth noting that due to economic conditions and local medical standards, the vast majority of primary and secondary school students have not yet received effective treatment. 

        In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, implement the strategic policy of the state in the fight against health and poverty alleviation, deeply popularize the "three-level model of preventing blindness and precision Poverty Alleviation," and solve the phenomenon of "blindness caused by poverty and return to poverty due to blindness" among the poor in remote areas, on the morning of March 28, Hebei Xiongan He Eye Specialist Hospital  Management Co., Ltd. and Shitai County people's government signed the Shitai County "Ophthalmic Medical precision Poverty Alleviation" public welfare project cooperation agreement. President He Wei and Sun Ruixiang, deputy head of Shitai County, signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of the two sides.

He Wei, Director of He Eye Hospital (first from left in front row) and Sun Ruixiang, deputy head of Shitai County (first from right in front row),
on behalf of the two sides, signed an agreement on the cooperation of the public welfare project of "precision poverty alleviation in ophthalmology care".

        Before the signing ceremony, Cheng Xiaojun, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Anhui Provincial CPC Committee, met with president He Wei.

Cheng Xiaojun, Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Anhui Provincial CPC Committee (first from the center right). 
Interview with He Wei, president of He Eye Specialist Hospital  (first from center left)

        At the forum, relevant leaders of Shitai County briefed them on the economic and social development of Shitai County, and said that they would do a good job in the public welfare project of "precision poverty alleviation in ophthalmic medicine," and that government departments would provide full support. 

        President He Wei said that the public welfare project of "precision Poverty Alleviation in Ophthalmic Medicine" aims at the serious problem of blindness caused by poverty and returning to poverty due to blindness in Shitai County, and plans to be supported by the Shitai County Party Committee and the county government. It took two years to explore the myopia prevention and control model and the precision poverty alleviation and blindness prevention model in line with the actual situation of Shitai County, and turned Shitai County into the first blindness & cataract-free demonstration county and myopia prevention and control demonstration county in Anhui Province, and leave a " medical team that never leaves." 

        According to the project plan, the project plans to invest 2 million yuan, using fixed-point assistance, personnel training, capacity-building, model exploration and other forms to eliminate blindness in Shitai County, leaving a "medical team that never leaves." 
At the end of the project, the experience of the project will be copied to other poor counties in Anhui Province, which will contribute to the goal of building a well-off society at the same time. 

        It is understood that the implementation unit of the public welfare project is Hebei Xiong’an He Eye Specialist Hospital  Management Co., Ltd., which is jointly established by the Central Enterprise Industrial Investment Fund Co., Ltd in poor areas and Liaoning He Eye Specialist Hospital . Special activities will be carried out in poor and underdeveloped areas throughout the country, such as general survey, rescue and training of ophthalmopathy, as well as the construction of specialized ophthalmic hospitals for cataract treatment and prevention and control of myopia in adolescents. This project is the first project implemented by the Central Enterprise Poverty Alleviation Fund in Anhui Province.

Cheng Xiaojun (fourth from right), deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Anhui Provincial CPC Committee, witnessed the signing ceremony. 
And posed for a group photo with He Wei, president of He Eye Specialist Hospital  (fifth from right) and relevant leaders of Shitai County.

        The implementation of the health poverty alleviation project and efforts to prevent "poverty caused by illness and return to poverty due to illness" are the key to winning the battle to get rid of poverty. 

        In poor areas, there are more people who are blind because of poverty and return to poverty because of blindness. In order to solve the problem of "blindness caused by poverty and return to poverty because of blindness", He Eye Group has been ploughing in the public welfare cause of preventing blindness and helping the poor for more than 20 years. This paper explores the model of "three-level prevention of blindness and precision poverty alleviation", which is suitable for China's national conditions. 
        Under this model of preventing blindness and helping the poor, at present, the project of "precision Poverty Alleviation in Ophthalmic Medicine" launched by He Eye Group has been carried out in Pingtang County, Luodian County, Guizhou Province, and Lankao County, Henan Province. The future plan will be carried out one after another in the state-level poor counties in Yunnan, Gansu, Hebei and other provinces.