Benin: Chinese Medical Team to Perform Free Cataract Surgery

To date, 616 Chinese doctors have performed some 75,000 operations and treated more than 3 million Beninese patients. Nov. 15, 2023.

Published 15 November 2023

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Beninese Health Minister Benjamin Hounkpatin said the project was in line with the development of medical and surgical centers of excellence in Benin.

On Tuesday, a Chinese medical team of ophthalmologists from China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region launched a project to perform free cataract operations in Benin.

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The project, launched in Cotonou, a city in the south of the country, is one of the results of a visit to China by Beninese President Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon in September. Its aim is to implement the bilateral cooperation documents signed between the two countries in the field of healthcare.

According to official reports, as part of the project called "Marche vers la lumière" (Walk towards light), the six-member Chinese ophthalmology medical team will operate free of charge on 200 cataract patients at the Mono-Couffo Departmental Hospital Center in the southwestern Beninese city of Lokossa.

At the inauguration ceremony, Benin's Minister of Health, Benjamin Hounkpatin, said that the project was in line with the development of medical and surgical centers of excellence in Benin.

Another Brightness Action program just started in #Benin�� to perform free cataract surgeries for 200 patients.

Since 2014, #China�� has launched such programs in #Asia, #Africa & Central America by sending outstanding Chinese ophthalmologists to perform such surgeries. pic.twitter.com/kVmMk85C0L
— 吴鹏 Wu Peng (@WuPeng_MFAChina) November 15, 2023

"This cooperation project is not only an excellent opportunity for health professionals to share experiences, but also to meet many needs in cataract surgery," he said.

The project will also allow for the donation of equipment and consumables needed for cataract surgery, said Chinese Ambassador to Benin Peng Jingtao.

All the equipment for the operation will be supplied by the Chinese side and donated to the Mono-Couffo Departmental Hospital Center to create a modern ophthalmological diagnostic and treatment center at the hospital.

China sent its first medical team to Benin in 1978. To date, 616 Chinese doctors have performed some 75,000 operations and treated more than 3 million Beninese patients.