Medical assistance to Africa passes five-decade landmark

In 1968, the first team of health practitioners, 36 strong, traveled from Beijing to Africa, evidence of China's strong commitment to provide medical aid to the continent.

More than half a century later, that commitment is still in place. Over the decades, 53 Beijing medical assistance teams involving more than 1,000 personnel have been dispatched to 11 African countries and regions, including Zambia, Algeria and Guinea, establishing friendships between the peoples of the two sides.

The 29th Beijing medical assistance team to Guinea arrived in Conakry, on March 6 after a journey of more than 50 hours. The team has 22 members, 20 of whom came from Beijing Tiantan Hospital, while the other two came from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission and the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

"Our medical staff voluntarily signed up for this team and were selected from 15 clinical departments, including neurology, emergency treatment and intensive care," says Guan Zhongjun, Party secretary of Beijing Tiantan Hospital.

Guo Wei, leader of the team, explained that it will work in Guinea for about 18 months, further strengthening China's cooperation with the country in areas of clinical medicine, healthcare reform and public health.

Zhang Wei, deputy Party secretary of Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, who was the leader of the 28th Beijing medical assistance team to Guinea, explains the importance of such work, particularly amid the pandemic.

"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence the whole world, while Guinea is also threatened by many other infectious diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, measles and Ebola. But the local hospitals still lacked a complete hospital infection response system," says Zhang.

Therefore, the primary task facing Zhang's team was to help Guinean hospitals to set up an effective healthcare system to deal with infectious diseases. The Chinese staff worked jointly with their local peers to establish a tailored mechanism based on extensive consultation and investigation.

At the end of March, the China-Guinea Friendship Hospital put forward a set of management regulations in response to possible COVID-19 infections in hospitals, which was expected to be expanded to more hospitals in Guinea.

Kong Qingyu, deputy director of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, and the leader of the 23rd Beijing medical assistance team to Guinea, says Ebola was a major issue confronting his team.

"In 2014, Ebola broke out in Africa, but we knew little about the virus. The only thing we knew was that it was highly contagious and almost incurable," Kong recalls.

The epidemic unfolded just as Kong and his team were about to conclude their work in Guinea, but they chose to stay, confronting the outbreaks shoulder to shoulder with African colleagues.

"We immediately reported to China's medical authorities, and they sent us the latest research outcomes, with the help of which we guided people in Guinea to implement prevention and control measures accordingly," Kong adds.

At the same time, the 24th team, including 19 experts from Beijing Friendship Hospital, was ready to support the fight against Ebola in Guinea.

"Nobody could remain immune to the Ebola epidemic, so we had to take responsibility and stand with the Guinean people. Some of our team members even made out wills before they left home," says Wang Zhenchang, deputy director of Beijing Friendship Hospital and leader of the 24th team.

After the team arrived in August 2014, they provided healthcare training for nearly 1,700 local medical workers and health officials. "The training helped them understand the Ebola virus and adopt appropriate measures to contain the infection," he adds.

Thanks to the continuous efforts of the Chinese medical assistance teams in Guinea, the China-Guinea Friendship Hospital, founded in April 2012, has become one of the leading hospitals in Guinea.

"When I was there, our priority was developing the intensive-care department, but the lack of capable medical staff was a major challenge for us," recalls Wang Yu, leader of the 25th Beijing medical assistance team to Guinea, which started its mission in January 2016.

Wang Yu's team organized a comprehensive intensive-care training program for Guinean doctors and nurses, including more than 200 hours of theoretical training and over 400 hours of surgical training, with all the teaching materials translated into French, the official language of Guinea.

"It is more important to help the Guinean people build a sound medical system and enable local medical staff to deal with diseases themselves, rather than just making prescriptions for patients," says Zhang, leader of the 28th team.

Zhang says his team further improved the training project, adding short-term exchanges and online courses.

According to Zhong Dongbo, Party secretary of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, the past half-century of medical cooperation has been well worth the effort.

"The 53 medical assistance teams from Beijing to African countries have kept our friendship alive," says Zhong. "Developing a healthcare community with a shared future is our common aspiration."