China and Cuba have jointly built an ophthalmic hospital in northwest Qinghai Province, to help locals of the high-altitude province who suffer ophthalmic diseases.

The Hospital of Talmologico Amistad China-Cuba De Xining has a building area of 4,000 square meters, 80 beds, and 135 staff members, including 52 from Cuba.

"This is the first cooperation project in ophthalmic area between China and Cuba," said Wang Xuan, vice mayor of Xining City, capital of Qinghai.

The two countries have invested 39 million yuan (US$4.9 million) in the construction of the hospital. They planned a total investment of 60 million yuan (US$7.6 million) for the hospital.

Under a 10-year cooperation term, Cuba will supply the hospital with equipment and experts, while the Chinese side provides space and other staff.

Located in the Xining No.1 People's Hospital, the ophthalmic hospital will be open to public next Tuesday.

With an average altitude of 3,000 meters, Qinghai has a high incidence rate of cataracts, a disease which causes the lens of the eye to become cloudy and can lead to blindness, due to cold air, oxygen shortage and strong ultraviolet.

The province has now 12,000 cataracts patients with an annual increase of 1,500 more. The total population of Qinghai is about five million.

But the province had no special ophthalmic hospitals before, making it difficult for cataracts patients to seek treatment.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)