GX Foundation says it is cooperating with Djibouti's Ministry of Health to introduce traditional Chinese medicines registered in Hong Kong

GX Foundation CEO Emily Chan Ying-yang said on Thursday that the charity was cooperating with Djibouti's Ministry of Health to introduce traditional Chinese medicines registered in Hong Kong to the country to support local primary health services.

The charity, which currently works in eight countries in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, also expected to expand services such as cataract treatment and dengue fever prevention to two or three more nations this year amid its mission to enhance the well-being of local populations, she said.

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The belt and road scheme is China's plan to grow global trade.

Chan said that the foundation would also focus on bringing more young Hongkongers to join its humanitarian aid services overseas as part of its efforts to step up global exchanges and cooperation.

"Our projects have not only helped local people in need, but also organised young people and retired volunteers from Hong Kong to offer assistance on the ground," Chan said.

The foundation, established in Hong Kong in 2018 and chaired by former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, is a medical humanitarian aid charity. It is one of the few known Hong Kong-based NGOs serving belt and road countries.

It offers services in Laos, Cambodia, Honduras, Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, East Timor, and Vanuatu, with major projects to provide free cataract operations, prevent dengue fever and offer accessible direct potable water in impoverished communities.

The organisation, which works with medical teams from mainland China, has completed more than 21,000 free cataract operations in Laos, Cambodia, Djibouti, Senegal and Mauritania since September 2022.

The GX Foundation provides cataract operations in Djibouti, and other countries. Photo: Facebook/GX Foundation

A large-scale outbreak of dengue fever last year prompted the foundation to launch the project targeting the vector-borne disease, which has distributed more than 17,000 mosquito lamps, about 290,000 rapid test kits and over 115,000 mosquito nets, as well as more than 340,000 rolls of fly traps.

The organisation has also donated 100 direct drinking water machines in East Timor, which could help save 3 million plastic bottles a year.

In February, the foundation signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with Vanuatu's Ministry of Health to launch a national malaria, dengue fever and other vector-borne disease control programme, after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the South Pacific island country in December last year.

Chan, a clinical doctor and a veteran in public health and humanitarian medicine, said the foundation's work had achieved success over the years, and it would continue focusing on driving forward its projects in the countries as well as the prevention of disasters there.

"The future global health environment will provide many more opportunities for Asian people to take part in this work," she said.

"I hope that more young people and organisations in Hong Kong will go to work in these areas, so that these places will no longer be unfamiliar with our Hong Kong people to make contributions."