China's cataract surgical rate continues to increase

BEIJING -- The cataract surgical rate (CSR), measuring the number of procedures per million people, now exceeds 2,000 in China, according to the National Health Commission.

"The CSR was 800 in 2010 and 370 in 2000. A higher CSR indicates a higher treatment rate," said Jiao Yahui, an official with the commission.

"The government has paid great attention to people's ocular health and has effectively reined in major eye diseases that may lead to blindness after decades of continuous efforts," Jiao said.

In 2009 the government launched the Regaining Eyesight Program for a Million Impoverished Cataract Patients and had subsidized surgery for more than 1.75 million cataract patients by the end of 2013.

In March, the country launched a national program to treat cataracts for impoverished citizens, aiming to provide free cataract surgery for all Chinese who cannot afford the treatment by 2020.