Ekeomah Atuonwu
China has dispatched a new group of medical personnel to Uganda to assist in the fight against various diseases and the improvement of the country’s public health system.
Seven medical experts, a translator, and a chef were chosen from three hospitals and a university in Yunnan Province, southwest China. They flew out of Kunming, the provincial capital, on Thursday.
At the send-off ceremony on Wednesday, Guo Zhiping, head of the team from Yunnan’s No.3 People’s Hospital, said, “By carrying forward the hardworking and indomitable spirit, we will try our best to help locals relieve themselves from diseases.”
Guo went on to say that the two sides’ cooperation will be expanded in areas such as hospital management, disciplinary construction, talent cultivation, telemedicine, and public health, among others.
The medical experts come from a variety of fields, including gastroenterology, anesthesiology, otolaryngology, thyroid and breast surgery, urinary surgery, tuberculosis, and the science of acupuncture and moxibustion, which is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine.
The team received four months of training prior to their departure, including PCR sampling and testing skills, as they will be assisting the country in combating COVID-19 during their 15-month stay.
Yunnan has sent 21 medical teams to Uganda since 1983. This year marks the 60th anniversary of China and Uganda establishing diplomatic relations, and Guo expressed his hope that their service in the country will contribute to the deepening of their friendship.
China sent a medical team to Algeria in 1963, heralding its medical aid undertaking in Africa. In November 2011, China released a white paper on China-Africa cooperation, which said China had sent 23,000 medical practitioners to the continent by then and treated some 230 million people.
