ZEISS-Led Program Creates Cataract Treatment Teams in China

ZEISS has launched the “Vision in County” Cataract Development Program in China. The program aims to strengthen the building of a grassroots professional ophthalmic team that promotes high-quality eye care and access to cataract surgery services. Its launch event featured the establishment of a training base in the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Jinan.

The first training course recruited four trainees from county-level public hospitals to undertake ophthalmic training. Over the next five years, the program will provide specialized courses to trainees, eventually cultivating 30 core doctors for primary medical institutions in Shandong Province.

Following the completion of the initiative, ZEISS will continue its cooperation with domestic cataract surgery centers in China and with teams of experts. ZEISS will specifically help develop cataract training bases, enhance the cataract treatment capabilities of hospitals, and improve access to treatment for patients including those at low-tier city and county levels.

Cataracts are the world’s leading cause of blindness and visual impairment. There are reportedly more than 20 million cataract patients in China. Of that number, 600,000 are said to qualify as impoverished patients.