Dr. Zhang Chaozhong, a cataract specialist from the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanchang University (NCU), has been conferred one of Chad’s highest state honors—the National Order of the Knight. The award recognizes his exceptional service as a member of the 20th Chinese Medical Team from Jiangxi Province working in Chad and his contributions to strengthening bilateral ties. This is the first such honor presented to a Chinese aid doctor since Chad’s new president took office.
On December 18, a delegation from China’s National Health Commission visited the China-Chad Eye Center in N’Djamena. The center, a project supported by Jiangxi Province and operated by the Affiliated Eye Hospital, was showcased by Dr. Zhang, its core expert. Under Chinese stewardship, the center has upgraded its facilities and pioneered advanced techniques like phacoemulsification cataract surgery, glaucoma prevention and treatment, and complex ocular trauma management, setting new standards in local eye care.
The delegation conducted on-site visits to the center’s operating rooms and consultation rooms. They highly commended the Chinese team for maintaining high clinical standards in a resource-limited setting, highlighted their sustained “Light for Chad” initiative and mentorship-based training of local staff, and praised the center as a shining example in China-Africa health collaboration.
At the official ceremony on December 19, Chad’s Health Minister, on behalf of the President, bestowed the knighthood upon all members of the Jiangxi medical team. The award celebrates both the team’s expertise and Jiangxi Province’s long-term commitment to nurturing medical talent for Africa.
“This award belongs to our hospital and every colleague dedicated to medical aid abroad,” Dr. Zhang remarked. Stationed in Chad, he performed sight-saving surgeries under difficult conditions, battling heat, the constant threat of malaria, and limited medical equipment.
Since 2017, in response to the national call, the Affiliated Eye Hospital has dispatched eight experts over seven rotations to Chad. They have provided outpatient care to over 39,000 patients and performed more than 6,400 surgeries, including 835 charitable cataract operations. The program has trained four Chadian medical professionals in China and is currently hosting a Chadian graduate student in ophthalmology at NCU. These efforts have addressed nine critical gaps in ophthalmic technology within Chad and across Central Africa. This represents a transformative shift from merely treating diseases and alleviating patient suffering to establishing a sustainable mechanism for the independent operation, self-sustaining development, and continuous improvement of Chad's ophthalmic healthcare system. It stands as a benchmark for Jiangxi's compact yet high-impact foreign medical aid projects, a pioneering endeavor in advancing the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind , and a concrete practice of the Belt and Road Initiative.
