Record of Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital's Aid to Xinjiang: The Leap Forward from the Spark of Technology to the Blaze of Flames

In the northwest border of the motherland, Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital spanned 5,000 kilometers in seven years, writing a moving chapter of Guangdong and New Zealand's deep love for Xinjiang. This journey has always been promoted under the overall planning of the Dongguan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, the Guangdong Aid to Xinjiang Third Division Task Force, and the Municipal Health Bureau, vividly practicing the mission of "party building leading the people's livelihood project".

Due to strong ultraviolet rays and long sunshine, the high incidence of cataracts in Xinjiang has been a major health problem that plagues the local people. From the private medical force taking the lead in aiding Xinjiang in 2018 to the elite team tackling difficulties in 2025, Dongguan Aier Ophthalmology has sent a total of 20 medical volunteers to Xinjiang and completed 600 cataract vision restoration surgeries, significantly improving the local ophthalmology diagnosis and treatment capacity. Through "sending technology" and "building mechanisms", it has contributed solid Dongguan strength to the cause of eye health in Xinjiang with practical actions.

Figure | On June 30, 2025, the Aier Ophthalmology Dongguan Aid Xinjiang Medical Team arrived in Tumushuk again to carry out the five-day "Guangdong Xinjiang One Heart and Bright Walk" public welfare vision restoration action

The hospital has always adhered to the original intention of "allowing everyone to enjoy the right to eye health, regardless of poverty or wealth", and sent high-quality medical resources to Xinjiang to bring light and hope to local patients.

Seven years of relay: solid and sonorous steps

2018: Flexible exploration and the first step in aiding Xinjiang

In 2018, with the strong support of the Guangdong Aid to Xinjiang Third Division Task Force, Dongguan Aier Ophthalmology led a team to the old campus of the General Hospital of the Third Division of Tumushuk to provide basic medical services such as eye examination and treatment for local patients, sowing a "technical fire" and accumulating valuable experience for the follow-up aid to Xinjiang.

Figure | In November 2018, Aier Ophthalmology Dongguan Aid Xinjiang Medical Team performed free surgery for 24 cataract patients

2023: Deepen co-construction and significantly increase surgical assistance

After the epidemic, in 2023, the hospital will overcome difficulties, continue to relay, participate in depth, and significantly increase surgical assistance, with a record of 20 surgeries in a single day. This year, the General Hospital of the Third Division moved to the new campus, and the two sides signed a three-year agreement on "Jointly Building an Ophthalmology Specialty Alliance". During the cooperation, 600 surgeries were completed in collaboration, which greatly improved the level of local medical technology.

Figure | In October 2023, the Dongguan medical team performed free surgery on 200 cataract patients

2024: Qualitative changes and upgrades to help medical aid to Xinjiang

In 2024, the General Hospital of the Third Division will be listed as the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, and Dongguan Aier Ophthalmology will strengthen the "hematopoietic" function through the "surgical teaching + talent training" model, help its ophthalmology develop in an all-round way, and cultivate ophthalmology professional and technical talents for the division and city, providing higher quality medical services for local patients.

Figure | In August 2024, the Dongguan medical team performed free surgery on 200 cataract patients

2025: Elite forces to tackle difficult eye diseases

In June 2025, Dean Liu Fei and Wang Hushuang led an elite team to Xinjiang and completed 100 surgeries within 5 days. They focus on performing high-level surgeries for local cataract patients with complex conditions and high surgical difficulties, and focus on in-depth technical empowerment such as special guidance and surgical teaching for difficult cases, effectively improve the practical ability of local doctors to deal with difficult eye diseases, and realize the qualitative change from "bringing technology" to "retention ability".

Figure | In July 2025, the Dongguan medical team performed free surgery on 100 cataract patients

Benevolence reflects the Tianshan Mountains: boundless love warms the border

In the process of aiding Xinjiang, the medical team faced a diverse and complex patient group, ranging in age from 10 months old to 91 years old, covering common cataracts, difficult hard-core cataracts, pseudoexfoliation syndrome, optic nerve fibropathy and even rare corneal dermoides.

Figure | Dean Liu Fei (left) and Dean Wang Hu (right) examine and operate on the patient

With their profound professional accumulation and rich clinical experience, the medical team members formulated precise plans for each patient, and successfully performed a number of difficult surgeries to bring patients back to sight.

Wonderful hands to open new light: the alliance builds a foundation for long-term planning

The cooperation between Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital and the Third Division Tumushuk General Hospital is not only reflected in surgical assistance, but also pays more attention to the cultivation of "hematopoietic" function. The two sides jointly established an ophthalmology specialty alliance, carried out technology export and talent training, and initially created an "ophthalmic medical team that cannot be taken away", effectively improving the diagnosis and treatment and surgical capabilities of local doctors.

Figure | On October 16, 2023, the Guantu Ophthalmology Specialty Alliance was officially listed in Shishi General Hospital

Wang Dengfeng, director of the Department of Otolaryngology of Tumshuk General Hospital, was deeply moved: "It is the luck of the team to work under the guidance of a top domestic expert like Dean Liu Fei. From diagnostic ideas and surgical skills to perioperative management and nursing standards, they have been systematically improved. Local patients can enjoy top-notch services at their doorstep, which is an unprecedented boon. ”

In the face of the new goal of "creating a top three" of the Third Division Tu City General Hospital, cooperation will move to a higher level. President Liu Fei said: "Aier Ophthalmology will continue to deepen the construction of the alliance, help improve its ophthalmology strength in an all-round way, so that the vision of border people 'not leaving the city with serious illnesses' will be realized as soon as possible, and contribute to the cause of eye health in Xinjiang." ”

Figure | Dean Liu Fei carried out early handover classes, case discussions and surgical teaching

During the operation, Lu Jianjun, vice mayor and member of the party group of the Dongguan Municipal People's Government, Qi Yong, secretary of the party group and director of the Tumushuk Municipal Health Commission of the Third Division, and Liang Jieqiu, leader of the Xinjiang aid task force, personally visited the Xinjiang aid medical team.

"Every case of vision restoration surgery is a mark of the party's policy of benefiting the people in the frontier, so that the people of all ethnic groups in the frontier can personally feel the warmth of the care of the party and the state, and feel the deep friendship from Dongguan." President Liu Fei said emotionally that the hospital received the support of the government and the trust of the people at the beginning of its establishment, and after solving its own food and clothing, it used its professional ability to repay the society and go to the place where we were needed most!

Figure | On July 2, 2025, the surgical patient took a group photo with the Dongguan Aier medical team to aid Xinjiang

The hospital has always deeply integrated party building work with public welfare assistance to ensure that every operation becomes a "people's project". The 5,000-kilometer aid road of Dongguan Aier Fuming Medical Team carries a mission and responsibility every step. They dispelled the darkness with benevolence and benevolence, ignited hope with professionalism and sincerity, and continued to write a touching chapter of love for aiding Xinjiang with light and warmth on the northwest border of the motherland.