The third China-Africa Eye Health Forum was on Virtual

• 2020-12-02 11:15:47

The third China-Africa Eye Health Forum was successfully held online on June 23rd. Almost 1000 people from 91 countries and regions registered and attended. Another 500,000 viewers watched the Forum through Xinhua Net broadcasting platform. 

During the 4-hour meeting, over 20 speakers from China, the UK, the US, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mali, Burundi, Cameroon, Switzerland, Australia and other countries discussed how to prevent and control of avoidable blindness in Sub-Sahara Africa.

This is the third high-level meeting in the field of eye health in China and Africa following Beijing in 2018 and Kigali in 2019. The forum is sponsored by the China National Training Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Blindness, co-organized by the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness(IAPB), Orbis International and He Eye Specialist Hospital (HESH). The forum is co-chaired by Dr. He Wei, Founder and President of HESHP, Peter Holland, President of IAPB, and Bob Ranck, President and CEO of Orbis International.

Speakers' speeches are listed as follows:

Peter Holland, President of IAPB, pointed out that strengthening human resources training and building a talent system is still the most important part of African eye health development. The eye health development in Africa even the world cannot be inseparable from the efforts of ophthalmological institutions and organizations of various countries.

Bob Ranck, President and CEO of Orbis International, introduced that since 2016, Orbis International and HESH have conducted online live training through Cybersight. In the future, they will continue to strengthen training through high and new technologies to achieve global ophthalmology integration.

Dr. He Wei, Founder and President of HESH, introduced solutions for the mismatch of human resources and technology in eye care. Dr. He promised to cooperate with African countries to create a sustainable and reproducible eye health model.

Prof. Ke Yao, Chair of Ophthalmology Committee of Chinese Medical Association, said that the prevention and treatment of blindness requires the joint participation of the government, NGOs, academic institutions and the whole society. The Ophthalmology Committee of Chinese Medical Association will continue to contribute.

Prof. Gu Xuejun, Vice President of Affiliated Eye Hospital to Nanchang University shared his experience in Chad.

Dr. Zhang Xiaohui from Heilongjiang Provincial Eye Hospital shared his experience of working in Africa.

Prof. Daniel Etyaale, former WHO Vision 2020 Global Coordinator for Africa,  introduced the development of ophthalmic human resources in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prof. Nathan Congdon from Queen's University of Belfast shared a cost-effective outreach screening model in China and discussed the possibility to conduct similar projects in Africa.

Dr. James Muecke, Chairman of Sight for All, introduced their work of flighting blindness in Myanmar. 

Prof. Geoffrey Tabin, Co-founder and Chairman of Himalayan Cataract Project,  published a speech on "Can the Strategy for Cataract Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa be as successful as Nepal?" 

Representatives from China National Health Commission, International Council of Ophthalmology, African Union, African Ophthalmology Council, Rwanda Ophthalmology Society, University of Cape Town, the African Capacity Building Foundation, Ethiopian Industrial Inputs Development Enterprise, Mali Investment Promotions Agency in China, and other governmental department and organizations participated in the Forum.