Hospitals designated as a training center for advanced eye surgery

Two Shanghai hospitals have been designated as high-end eye surgery training centers for young medics.

Fudan University's Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital, a leading public hospital, and Shanghai Ai'er Eye Hospital, a private facility, have both been designated as training centers for implantable collamer lens (ICL) surgery, which involves implanting a lens between the iris and the natural lens to treat refractive errors.

Typically, Fudan University's ENT Hospital offers ICL surgery as an alternative to people who do not meet the criteria for LASIK surgery.

Dr Wang Xiaoying of Fudan University's ENT Hospital stated that its adaptation illnesses have now expanded from highly severe myopia to myopia with relatively modest degrees.

Dr Wang, who was among the first batch of doctors to perform ICL in China, stated that people with complicated eye conditions or those concerned about future eye issues like cataracts are likely to undergo ICL surgery because they can remove the implanted lens. He is on the list of Expertise in Phakic Intraocular Lenses.

Myopia is more prevalent in Asia than in Western countries, affecting around half of the Chinese population.

Severe myopia and extremely severe myopia account for 20 percent and 10 percent of the myopic population, respectively, which are significantly higher than in Western countries.

Dr Li Xia, vice president of Shanghai Ai'er Eye Hospital, believes that more valuable and comprehensive myopia prevention and control measures should be implemented.

"Regulating clinical practice and providing training for young and grassroots medics are very important," she added, noting that her hospital has also opened an International Phakic Intraocular Lens (IOL) Surgery Center for expatriates and Chinese.