BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China has provided sight-restoration surgeries for 8.45 million cataract patients in the 20 years ending 2008, 840,000 of whom received free treatment, according to the Ministry of Health Tuesday.

    Ma Xiaowei, deputy health minister, said Tuesday that despite the country's intensified efforts in treating cataracts, the leading cause of blindness in China, the situation of eye disease treatment in rural areas still awaits a fundamental change.

    He called for major medical institutions in cities to give support to county-level hospitals in the field of ophthalmology and help improve their capacity in treating eye problems in rural areas, where the majority of cataract patients are found.

    China is estimated to have about 1 million impoverished cataract patients.

    The country's Health Ministry has already kicked off a sight-restoration program for rural and impoverished cataract patients. About 200,000 operations are expected to be carried out this year, it said.