Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- 60 Years of Mutual Assistance -- China's medical team that has joined hands with Africa to share a common destiny.
Xinhua News Agency reporters Cui Kexin, Yang Jun and Xu Zheng.
There is a friendship that spans 60 years and endures.
There is a seed, carefully irrigated over generations, that has taken root and sprouted on the land of Africa.
In April 1963, the first batch of 13 members of the Chinese medical team to assist Algeria arrived in Saida, a city in western Algeria, which opened the prelude to China's medical aid to Africa. Over the past half century, China has sent 30,000 medical personnel to 76 countries and regions, treated nearly 300 million patients, and trained more than 100,000 medical personnel for many countries.
Batch after batch of Chinese angels in white went to Africa, using wisdom, sweat and even their lives to compose moving stories of boundless love, demonstrating the world's feelings of sharing weal and woe and destiny with China and the vast number of developing countries.
On December 29, 2023, the 60th Anniversary and Commendation Conference of China's Foreign-Aid Medical Team was held in Beijing, and 30 national advanced collectives and 60 advanced individuals in foreign-aid medical work were commended.
In December 1966, an elderly Algerian man expressed to Chinese doctors his happiness that his condition had improved. Xinhua News Agency.
Happiness in the midst of suffering, passing on the torch.
Located on the edge of the Sahara Desert, drought and strong sunlight make it difficult for plants to survive, and sandstorms are commonplace, making living and working harsh. In this small Algerian city known as the "Gate of the Desert", groups of Chinese angels in white have been silently dedicated and passed on from generation to generation.
Zhang Youming, 90, is part of China's first medical team to support Afghanistan. She came from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, and completed thousands of surgeries in two and a half years. Zhang Youming was most impressed by a herdsman named Sremani, who suffered from a difficult birth and suffered from massive bleeding and shock, and Zhang Youming waited for several days and nights until she was out of danger.
You are the person I trust the most!Sremani said excitedly when he was discharged from the hospital.
Tu Dachun is an orthopedic surgeon in the 23rd batch of medical teams to aid Algeria. Due to the serious shortage of manpower in the department, he was on duty from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every three months in a row, and had to work the emergency night shift every three days. Tu Dachun said that the dark blue surgical gown turned gray at the end of the day because it had been soaked in sweat for a long time.
Over the past 60 years, China has sent 27 batches of medical teams and 3,522 medical personnel to Afghanistan, treating more than 27 million patients and delivering more than 2.07 million newborns. To this day, in Algeria, especially in the Sahara Desert and surrounding provinces, medical resources are still scarce, and the Chinese medical team still plays an indispensable role.
In Comoros, an African island nation in the Indian Ocean, members of the Chinese medical team have to climb mountains for at least 45 minutes a day to reach the hospital, sometimes encountering torrential rains, mudslides and landslides. "We also had panic and hesitation in our hearts, but when we thought that we were coming to aid on behalf of China, we must not back down, and we all overcame many difficulties together and constantly adapted to the local environment and work. Su Yong, a member of the 15th batch of China-aided Comoros medical team, said.
In the West African country of Ghana, the Chinese medical team's resident hospital often lacks water and electricity, which poses great challenges to surgery and diagnosis and treatment. "But over the years, no matter how hard and difficult it is, no one has been left behind in the heroic team of the Chinese medical team. Du Yushan, captain of the 12th batch of China-aided Ghana medical team, said.
This is the information of Zhang Youming (right), a doctor of the Chinese medical team in Algeria**. Xinhua News Agency (provided by the interviewee).
Refined art helps the world, and the doctor is benevolent.
In the past 60 years, the Chinese medical team has benefited countless patients with benevolence and benevolence. In the eyes of many local people, Chinese doctors are their "reassurance".
In Tanzania, an eastern African country, the Kikwete Heart Research Institute, where the 26th batch of China-aided Tanzania medical teams are located, admitted an elderly female patient with multiple diseases after mitral valve replacement. The patient is in critical condition and has been taking oral anticoagulant drugs for a long time, and the risk of bleeding is extremely high, and the local hospital is unable to operate on her.
After receiving the consultation, Dr. Sun Xufang, a doctor from the Chinese medical team, decided to complete the minimally invasive surgery after repeated evaluation and communication with the patient's family. Despite the lack of key surgical instruments, Sun Xufang still successfully completed the operation in a short time, and the local doctors who were present to observe the operation were full of praise.
Thanks to the Chinese doctors for performing the surgery on my mother, the Chinese doctors are the most skilled!The patient's family said excitedly.
Mamacheri hails from a remote mountain village in Lesotho and has long suffered from a "strange disease". She had a large lump in her upper and lower abdomen. Due to the scarcity of local medical resources and the complexity of her condition, she sought medical treatment everywhere but no hospital could admit her.
Hearing that there was a Chinese medical team at Motebang Hospital in northern Lesotho, Mamacheri rekindled hope and came here. After careful examination, the Chinese doctor diagnosed Mamacheri's symptoms as "huge uterine fibroids with a huge hernia of the upper abdominal wall". The whole operation lasted about 3 hours, and Mamacheri recovered very smoothly after the surgery. She said excitedly: "Thank you Chinese doctors, without your help, I will never be able to get rid of the torment of this 'strange disease', you are my lifesaver!."”
According to Botswana's Minister of Health, Di Kolotti, the Chinese medical team is very important to Botswana's medical and health system, filling many gaps in the field of medical technology. "For a long time, African countries have lacked a well-developed health system. Chinese doctors have demonstrated a high level of professionalism and made positive contributions to the development of Bo's medical and health undertakings. ”
On August 5, 2023, in a village in Papua New Guinea** Province, Liu Zhenqiu, deputy leader of the 12th batch of Chinese medical teams and deputy chief physician of the Department of Neonatology, auscultated a small patient. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the 12th batch of Chinese medical teams to Papua New Guinea).
Teach people to be sincere in fishing.
Africa is the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries and is a weak link in the global public health system. Over the past 60 years, China's foreign medical teams have not only saved the lives of countless patients, but also greatly improved the level of medical technology in recipient countries, training more than 100,000 local medical personnel from "blood transfusion" to "hematopoiesis", leaving behind "medical teams that cannot be taken away".
In Djibouti, on the west coast of the Gulf of Aden, the largest public hospital, Berthier Hospital, has the country's only acupuncture department. Chinese medicine doctors Zhou Naizhong and Lian Xingang of the Chinese medical team see dozens of patients every day. They alleviate the pain of patients through acupuncture and massage, and Chinese medicine is gradually becoming known and loved in the local area.
In November 2022, the medical team of Kyrgyzstan held the first TCM acupuncture and massage training course in the capital Djibouti, and 13 medical personnel selected from all over the country participated in the training course, creating a "team of TCM talents that cannot be taken away" for the local people.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of China's dispatch of medical teams to Sierra Leone. Over the past 50 years, China's 24 medical teams have trained more than 5,000 local medical staff. "The training provided by the Chinese medical team to Sierra Leone is very important and has helped us to continuously improve the level of medical care, and our medical staff have learned a lot from it," said Denbi, Minister of Health of Sierra Leone. ”
Anurni, a 14-year-old Algerian girl, told reporters that Chinese doctors cared for her like a mother. Just a year ago, Li Hongling, a doctor from the Chinese-aided Algerian medical team, successfully removed her ovarian cyst through a rare minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery with a very small incision. Talking about her dreams for the future, Anulni said shyly that she hopes to become a doctor when she grows up, "like Dr. Lee".
On May 2, 2014, at Alert Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a child waited for a Chinese ophthalmologist to see him as part of the "Brightness Walk". (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Jing).
In the past 60 years, the Chinese angels in white have treated local patients in Africa with sincerity, and their figures have been deeply engraved in the hearts of local people.
In 1975, Mei Gengnian, the leader of the first batch of medical teams in Ethiopia from China, died in the post of aiding Africa, and three generations of the local elderly Zewudi family volunteered to guard the grave of the Chinese doctor for 48 years.
In 1998, Mei Gengnian's eldest son, Mei Xueqian, a member of the 10th batch of China's medical team to Ethiopia, came to the tomb and met the old man guarding his father's grave, listening to the old man repeatedly say in Amharic: "Amsegnahu (thank you)!".”
This voice of "Amsegnahu" is the highest praise for Chinese doctors and the best interpretation of China-Africa friendship. (Participating reporters: Zhou Chuyun, Ling Xin, Xie Hao, Hua Hongli, Xie Jiang).