2016年CRI An Eye Hospital on Wheels Opens in Beijing for Visit

 

A Lifeline Express train, which consists of four compartments¹ that house eye-care medical equipment, has recently opened its doors to ordinary citizens near Beijing West Railway Station.

Chief of the third of four Lifeline Express trains is surnamed Zhang, a retiree from China's Ministry² of Health.

"Our focus of today's activity is not medical services, but offering ordinary citizens a chance to get closer to this Lifeline Express train and give their support to this project that aims to enable those with impaired³ vision in China's poverty-stricken areas to regain⁴ their eyesight. The activity aims to arouse public care and concern about these disadvantaged people."

According to the activity's organizer, the Chinese Foundation for Lifeline Express, the project had cured more than 170,000 impoverished⁵ cataract⁶ patients free of charge nationwide in China by the end of 2015.

In fact, many of these cataract patients reside in remote regions grappling with traffic. The train's chief described what he's discovered within the three years he has served on board.

"Those who live in impoverished areas, particularly mountainous regions, may not see a train in their whole life. Now they can not only visit a train but receive medical treatment for a few days on wheels, which is a new and joyful⁷ experience for them."

This public show of China's only mobile cataract hospital in Beijing is also a joyful learning experience for many local visitors.

17-year old Cui Jingwei, a student with The Capital Railway Health School, is among the visitors.

"Many local people, particularly senior citizens are unwilling⁸ to leave their hometown in mountainous areas. They may also think both the medical expenses and long distance are beyond their reach and thus decided⁹ to give up their hope. But the Lifeline Express trains would arrive at their hometown and send doctors there to give them new hope via free medical treatment."

The first Lifeline Express was donated by the Hong Kong government in July of 1997 to mark its return to the Chinese mainland. 

To start is always the hardest step.

Seeing the progress made so far is exciting for Dong Shuzhen, an old chief of the first-ever Lifeline Express train.

This also led her to recall how they embarked¹⁰ on the journey. 

"In 1997 and 1998, locals were unaware¹¹ that our medical treatment only targets cataract patients. Local hospitals would conduct a primary screening of patients with eye diseases. We'd carry out a further screening: for instance, if we offered 1,000 cataract patients surgeries, the patients had been screened from 4000 or even 5,000 patients who had various types of eye diseases, not just cataracts¹². Fuyang city in Anhui province was our first stop, where a total of 19 medical workers performed more than 100 surgeries on the train. Today, there are only seven people on each train, including the head of the team, medical workers, chefs and maintenance and repair workers, and around 1500 surgeries are given at each place where the train stops."

Almost twenty years have passed, and now there are four Lifeline Express trains, which have traveled across 28 provinces and autonomous¹³ regions in China.

Doctors and nurses used to be selected from China's top-level hospitals. Now the coverage¹⁴ expands to the city's top-level hospitals. 

The Beijing Tongren Hospital, a famous institution which specializes in surgeries related to eyes, has joined this Lifeline Express project twice. But this is the first time that Zhou Dan, a Tongren Hospital doctor, has embarked on the tour.

She decided to join the charity project after some senior doctors from her hospital shared their previous experiences with her about offering medical assistance in Tibet.

"As soon as they unfold the gauze, they may discover they can see again, and then they may present the Tibetan scarf Khata to the doctor. And both doctors and patients were brought to tears, and that scene is a true expression of emotion from both sides."

Now a doctor has to perform a new task, in addition to the traditional practice of medical operations. That's also a further step towards which a Lifeline Express progresses. 

Liu Menglin, deputy secretary-general of the foundation, explains:

"An estimated 150 million people have diabetes¹⁵ in China, and the country shows an increase in incidences of diabetes. Usually after a decade, diabetic retinopathy occurs on many of these diabetes patients. Furthermore, a peak in the incidences of diabetes is predicted to occur soon. In addition to curing diabetes patients and training eye doctors, the Lifeline Express project also concentrates on screening diabetic retinopathy patients and educating the public about the severity of this disease."

Today, the Chinese Foundation for Lifeline Express wants to do more to help more people in need, since diabetes can also cause blindness. 

According to the Chinese Foundation for Lifeline Express, every year approximately one million diabetes patients lose their eyesight owing to lack of proper medical treatment, and the WHO has estimated that around 10 percent of all Chinese adults suffer from some form of diabetes.

For Studio Plus, I'm Shen Ting.

1 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

5 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

7 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

8 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

11 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

12 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

13 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

14 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

15 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。