2021-06-13

GX Foundation meets with Lao PDR Minister of Health, Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalaysith

A GX delegation, led by GX Chairman, Mr. Leung Chun-ying met with the new Minister of Health of Lao PDR, Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalaysith at the Ministry of Health in Vientiane. In addition to the GX emergency relief donation handover process, the GX Cataract Blindness Elimination Project plan (2021-2024) was discussed with the new Minister. 

In 2019, GX signed a 5-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry to collaborate on the Cataract Blindness Elimination Project which aimed to eliminate nation-wide cataract backlog cases through expert Chinese medical teams and 2 Mobile Eye Treatment Centres. The project has experienced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but GX and the Ministry of Health reaffirmed their commitment to deliver patient-centred ophthalmic care to sites across Lao PDR, starting in Vientiane in 2021. 

Through the provision of much-needed eye care to communities across the country and improving the health and livelihood of elderly people, GX aims to uphold the value of “people to people connectivity” under the Belt and Road Initiative for International Cooperation.