China News Service, Beijing, December 31 (Reporter Li Chun) At the beginning of his arrival in the Solomon Islands in March 2022, Chinese medicine doctor Lei Yandong could only work under the guidance of Western medicine doctors. Since there is no TCM and acupuncture medical system in the country, the legal practice status of TCM has become the first threshold for him to carry out foreign aid medical work.
"I was under a lot of pressure. At a symposium on medical aid in Beijing on the 29th of this month, Lei Yandong recalled that although he was granted temporary permission to practice medicine after coordination with various parties, the country's health department still had to conduct an inspection for a period of time. "For the first two weeks, I was cautious about the use of acupuncture, mainly through Western medical rehabilitation techniques, until I saw a 13-year-old girl who was hemiplegic after a traumatic brain injury, and I started using acupuncture. Eventually, the little girl fully recovered and is now able to go into the sea to catch fish. ”
On December 29, a symposium on foreign aid medical work was held in Beijing. Photo by China News Service reporter Tian Yuhao
The efficacy of TCM acupuncture is gradually being recognized. The recipient hospital has set up an acupuncture clinic in the rehabilitation department, and the practice status of traditional Chinese medicine has also been officially recognized. Today, TCM acupuncture has been included in the relevant health development plan of the Solomon Islands, and the TCM Acupuncture Center has also been successfully listed. Lei Yandong's experience of "turning positive" is a microcosm of China's foreign aid medical history again and again.
Since 1963, China has sent a total of 30,000 medical personnel to 76 countries and regions, built more than 130 medical and health facilities, and treated nearly 300 million patients, greatly improving the medical standards of the host countries.
"Three years and three months of foreign aid experience have given me a special affection for Dominica. Wu Dexi, a member of the 2nd to 4th batch of Chinese medical teams to help Dominica, said that Dominica lacks cardiologists, and he also wants to help the local government establish its own cardiovascular department. In May 2021, the China-Dominican Friendship Hospital finally opened the country's first cardiovascular medicine clinic under the joint efforts of China and Dominican Republic.
Wu Dexi also mentioned that since September this year, Dominica has sent two groups of medical backbones to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University for training, and the first batch of personnel has returned to China to serve the local people with the medical technology they learned from China, which has significantly improved the diagnosis and treatment level of local cardiovascular diseases.
On December 29, a symposium on foreign aid medical work was held in Beijing. Wu Dexi, a member of the 2nd to 4th batches of Chinese medical teams to aid Dominica, was interviewed by reporters after the meeting. Photo by China News Service reporter Tian Yuhao
Over the past 60 years, China's medical aid has trained more than 100,000 medical personnel for many countries. "Teaching people to fish" and building a "medical team that cannot be taken away" is the vision and pursuit of generations of Chinese medical team members who have aided foreign countries.
In July this year, Dr. Tevez, a general surgeon at the National Central Hospital of São Tomé and Príncipe, sent a message to Chen Yi in China: "Mr. Chen, I have just completed a laparoscopic surgery independently, and now there are four doctors in our hospital who have mastered this surgical skill. This "mentor-apprentice friendship" spanning thousands of miles originated from Chen Yi's trip to the country to carry out foreign medical missions five years ago.
Chen Yi said that in order to provide better medical resources to the local people, the Chinese medical team has established a remote consultation system between the recipient hospitals and hospitals in China. In June 2019, the West China Hospital of Sichuan University and the National Central Hospital of São Tomé and Príncipe were officially launched, allowing patients from São Tomé and its neighboring countries to seek expert resources on the remote consultation platform. The medical force assisting the country has also expanded from the foreign medical team to the entire team of experts at West China Hospital.
According to the data, hospitals in China have established different forms of counterpart cooperation with 48 hospitals in 43 countries around the world. China has also cooperated with relevant countries to establish 25 key clinical specialty centers and introduced hundreds of new technologies to improve the medical service capacity of recipient countries. China's medical aid has shifted from "blood transfusion" to "hematopoietic" cooperation.
On December 29, a symposium on foreign aid medical work was held in Beijing. He Jionghua, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation and first-level inspector of the National Health Commission, was interviewed by the media after the meeting. Photo by China News Service reporter Tian Yuhao
At present, China's health undertakings are moving forward, the strength of developing countries is growing, and the development of Sino-foreign medical and health cooperation is also facing new needs. According to He Zhihua, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation of the National Health Commission of China and first-level inspector, relevant cooperation should develop in a more comprehensive, multi-level and wide-ranging direction, and start from the needs of relevant countries to determine priority areas of cooperation and common development.
"Some developing countries are also very interested in China's experience in medical reform, medical and health policies, hospital management, and medical equipment and products, and come to exchange ideas with us. He Zhihua said that the development of medical and health cooperation between China and the world has broad prospects.
Lv Jinhan, director of the Health Commission of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, also mentioned that from the three dimensions of promoting the development of local health undertakings, improving the economic and social benefits of hospitals, and patients enjoying convenient, inexpensive and effective medical services, we should systematically plan foreign aid medical ideas and implement targeted foreign aid medical measures, so as to make all work more practical and pave the way for a better future of foreign aid medical treatment. (ENDS)