CHANGSHA July 6th (Xinhua) – – In recent years, central China’s Hunan Province has strengthened health exchanges and cooperation with Africa and contributed to deepening the friendship between China and Africa. This was revealed at the China-Africa Medicine and Health Development Forum, held on June 29, 2023, in Changsha, capital of Hunan.
Construction of hospitals, implementation of maternal and child health projects, launching of “actions of light”… Hunan has actively implemented the projects of the China-Africa Hospital Cooperation Mechanism.
Li Xiaosong, deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Health Commission, told the forum that Hunan has built two projects of the China-Africa Hospital Cooperation Mechanism, namely the project between Xiangya Hospital of South-Central University and China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital and that between Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital and Zimbabwe Parirenyatwa Hospital.
According to him, the first project focuses on three key specialties, namely cardiology, ophthalmology and otolaryngology. For the second, it is mainly about the construction of two platforms, namely one dedicated to respiratory care and intensive care, and another dedicated to telemedicine and skills training.
In June 2018, the 20th batch of China’s medical mission to Sierra Leone was mainly made up of doctors from Xiangya Hospital.
Lei Guanghua, director of Xiangya Hospital of South-Central University, said that in addition to regular medical consultations, the medical team has developed and implemented a comprehensive medical system at the China-Sierra Leone friendship Hospital, in line with the Xiangya model, to improve the medical services of local hospitals.
According to Li, the Hunan Provincial Health Commission has actively organized the dispatch of medical experts to Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, implementing innovative overseas aid projects, such as mother and child projects and “actions of light”, and bringing Chinese medical solutions to African countries.
Since 2016, Hunan has carried out two “actions of light” in African countries. Experienced ophthalmologists have been mobilized to perform cataract operations in African countries. They have treated more than 2,700 people for eye diseases and operated on 400 cataract patients. “In October 2018, together with my colleagues, we traveled to Sierra Leone to help the local hospital set up an ophthalmic cataract service, treat more than 300 patients with eye diseases, perform 200 surgeries, including 145 difficult operations, and train local medical professionals many times,” said He Guiyun, an ophthalmologist at Hunan People’s Hospital.
The Hunan Provincial Health Commission also brought together experts from the Provincial Children’s Hospital and the Provincial Hospital for Maternal and Child Health, to implement the “maternal and child health project” in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.
Chinese doctors have helped medical institutions in both countries build standardized wards and cervical cancer screening programs. They provided technical training to local medical personnel and shared Chinese experience in gynecological and pediatric governance and development models with their African colleagues.
Hunan Province Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric medical training institution in China for overseas medical aid.
xinhua/abp JULY 23