‘Our names will change, but the standard of treatment and promise of the Chinese medical team will never change.’

By Zhu Yingliang

Recently, at Georgetown Public Hospital in the capital of Guyana, Lionel Chinien, a patient with diabetic retinopathy complicated by neovascular glaucoma, who returned for a follow-up appointment, grabbed the hand of Dr. Huang Xiaobo, an ophthalmologist of the 20th Chinese Medical Team to Guyana. He said that thanks to the careful treatment of the ophthalmologists of the Chinese medical team over the past three years, he was able to preserve his sight.

Neovascular glaucoma is a difficult-to-treat eye disease with many complications and chronic progression. It demands extremely high medical expertise, with a low success rate in controlling the condition. If not treated promptly and in a standard manner, the patient will eventually become blind. Such was the case with Chinien. In 2023, he developed a serious eye disease due to long-term diabetes. At that time, Shi Yu and Liu Yi, the ophthalmologists of the 18th and 19th medical teams to Guyana performed vitrectomy and glaucoma pressure relief valve implantation consecutively, which successfully controlled the disease and his eyesight was restored.

However, due to blood sugar management problems, at the end of 2024, Chinien’s condition relapsed and he was at risk of blindness. Dr. Huang Xiaobo, a member of the 20th medical team to Guyana and Deputy Chief Physician of Ophthalmology Department of Nantong First People’s Hospital, quickly made a new treatment for him. After treatment, the visual acuity of Chinien’s right eye was significantly improved, and there was no more bleeding.

This relay treatment spanning two years is not only a continuation of foreign aid medical technology, but also a heritage of responsibility. As what Dr. Du Boxiang, the leader of the 20th Chinese (Jiangsu) Medical Team to Guyana, said, ‘our names will change, but the standard of treatment and promise of the Chinese medical team will never change.’