'Thank you, Chinese doctor!' echoes across 50 years of trust

Stronger local capacity

When the first Chinese medical team arrived in Madagascar in 1975, the local medical environment was vastly different from what they had experienced at home.

Hospitals often faced shortages of equipment and supplies, forcing doctors to make difficult decisions in restricted conditions.

Even today, many regional hospitals continue to deal with limited equipment, shortages of supplies and unstable power. For doctors, an operation might involve unexpected challenges.

"There were even flies during surgery," said Wang Jianhua from Gansu Provincial People's Hospital, who served in Madagascar for four years from 2018. "We had to improvise. We could not stop, because the patient would die."

In rural areas, the pressure was even greater. A single doctor could be responsible for tens of thousands of residents, Qiang said.

For many Chinese doctors, improving local healthcare started with solving problems they encountered every day.

He Fengxiao recalled that some surgical procedures in Madagascar were delayed because patients' families needed to purchase basic supplies such as gauze and sutures after doctors decided to operate.

"For some families, these materials were a heavy financial burden. They had to borrow money, which could affect the progress of surgery," He said.

To address this, Chinese medical teams prepared emergency kits containing commonly used surgical materials to ensure urgent procedures could proceed.

Since 1975, Chinese medical teams have continued to provide medical supplies and equipment, either purchased by the teams themselves or donated from within China. Support gradually expanded from basic surgical instruments and medicines to advanced equipment such as digital X-ray machines and CT scanners.

In recent years, that support has included advanced diagnostic equipment. A digital radiography system, donated with support from the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, was put into operation in 2026 at the University Hospital Center of Anosiala in Ambohidratrimo, Madagascar, improving imaging diagnosis.

Previously, medical staff relied on slower and less precise imaging systems, and patients sometimes had to travel long distances for further examinations.

The new digital system has helped shorten examination times, improve image quality and make medical diagnosis more accessible for local residents.

Chinese medical teams have also continued to train local doctors, introduce standardized procedures and help build a more sustainable healthcare system.

He said thoracic surgery was once limited by shortages of equipment and lack of standardized procedures. In some chest trauma cases, local doctors had to rely on improvised containers instead of proper negative-pressure drainage systems, posing safety risks.

Chinese doctors helped introduce medical instruments to local doctors, demonstrate standardized procedures, and train local teams through case discussions and surgical guidance.

"Medical cooperation is not only about treating patients, but also about helping local doctors develop the ability to handle more complex cases independently," He said.