Chinese government funds free cataract operations from Bright Journey Medical Team and donates equipment worth MVR 5.7 million for Maldives (Linked to Record ID#69440, #69381, #53776)

Project narrative

On December 21, 2015, the Chinese government signed an agreement with the Maldivian government to send the Bright Journey Medical team, along with the appropriate equipment, to the Maldives to conduct cataract surgery on 100 patients at the Hulhumalé Hospital. On January 27, 2016, the Chinese government donated the equipment used for the eye surgeries, worth MVR 5.7 million, to the Maldives for its hospitals, according to Sun Online. According to the Chinese Embassy to the Maldives, the Bright Journey Medical Team were in the Maldives from January 17 to January 28, 2016. According to an article from New Stories of the Silk Road, the medical team was sent by Guangdong Province’s Health and Family Planning Commission and performed 107 cataract surgeries on the island, improving the eyesight of many patients. According to the Chinese Embassy to the Maldives, the plans for the eye camp go back to Xi Jinping's 2014 state visit to the Maldives. For the Bright Journey eye camp in 2017, see Record ID#69440. For the eye camp performed by doctors from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center in 2020, see Record ID#69381. For the China-Maldives Ophthalmology Centre, see Record ID#53776.