At Nazmoga Hospital, dentist Sheng Lei sees a patient. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
The medical team conducts a free clinic in Zanzibar, pictured here is physician Liu Cuixia (first from left) receiving patients. Photo by reporter Hou Lulu
Nazmoga Hospital is one of the hospitals of the Chinese medical team in Zanzibar. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
In September last year, the 32nd China (Jiangsu) medical team returned to China after completing its one-year mission. At the farewell party for the medical team, Rashid, director of Abdullah Mtsai Hospital on Pemba Island, said emotionally: "The relationship between the Chinese medical team members and our local medical staff has gone beyond the relationship between friends, they are brothers and sisters. I hope our friendship will last forever. ”
In August 1964, a foreign medical team from China traveled nearly 10,000 kilometers and arrived on the island of Zanzibar in eastern Tanzania, Africa, after more than 10 days, thus starting the Sino-Tanzanian medical cooperation that lasted for more than half a century. In the past 60 years, groups of Chinese medical team members have come to this beautiful tropical island in Africa to benefit the local people with benevolence and benevolence, composing touching stories and vividly interpreting the sincere desire and responsibility to build a community of health for all.
"Everyone says that Chinese doctors have good medical skills"
Walking into the courtyard of the Chinese medical team in Zanzibar, the banner printed with "Fearless of hardship, willing to dedicate, save lives and help the wounded, and love without borders" is particularly eye-catching. In September 2022, the 32nd medical team from Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, arrived here to start a one-year medical aid work. The medical team, consisting of 21 members, was divided into two teams and worked at Nazmoga Hospital on Zanzibar and Abdullah Mcai Hospital on Pemba Island.
Early one weekend morning, this reporter followed the Chinese medical team from the station and drove for more than two hours to the Makunduchi District Hospital, located in the southernmost part of Zanzibar Island. In just 10 minutes, eight temporary departments, including internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, and stomatology, were ready to be put in place – a free clinic carried out by the Chinese medical team in line with the needs of the local health department.
"I heard that a Chinese doctor came to the clinic today, and my teacher brought me and my classmates early on. Everyone says that Chinese doctors are good at medicine!" Kausar, a 17-year-old high school girl, sat in front of Dong Lili, an ophthalmologist on the medical team, waiting for an examination.
Because his eyes were constantly uncomfortable, Kausal often had blurred vision. "Look up, look down, look left......" Dong Lili picked up the device to check the girl's eyes while communicating with her in simple Swahili.
"The conjunctiva is a little inflamed, I'll prescribe you two medicines. Dong Lili prescribed Ofloxacin eye drops and erythromycin eye ointment to Kausar, and wrote down the use of each medicine on the pill box.
Zhao Xiaojun, the leader of the medical team, told reporters that the medical conditions in Zanzibar are backward, the distribution of resources is uneven, and the local people often face the difficulty of lack of medical treatment and medicine. In order to better solve the problem of "difficulty in seeing a doctor" in the local area, the medical team often uses weekends and holidays to carry out free clinic activities and distribute treatment drugs to patients in need, which is welcomed by the local people. In the case of patients with complex conditions, the members of the medical team will also help them connect with the hospital where the medical team is stationed on a daily basis for further examination and treatment.
It was nearly noon, and there was a long queue outside the waiting room. Khalid, a local health official, weaves through the crowd and directs patients to the appropriate consultation room. In the busy intervals, Khalid told reporters that he has been working in the field of Africa-China medical and health cooperation for 14 years, has cooperated with more than 10 Chinese medical teams in Zanzibar, has been in contact with many Africa-China medical and health cooperation projects, and has also made many Chinese friends, "I am proud of the work I am engaged in." ”
During my stay in Zanzibar, more than 20 such clinics have been carried out in the local community. Including free clinics, the medical team has provided medical services to more than 60,000 local patients.
"I didn't expect to receive state-of-the-art treatment at my doorstep"
24-year-old Shahar Juma used to be a lively and beautiful girl. Unfortunately, the huge ovarian cystadenoma caused Juma's abdomen to bulge constantly, seriously affecting her fertility and health. On the advice of a local doctor, Juma came to Nazmoga Hospital to seek help from Chinese doctors.
Xu Xinlan is an obstetrician and gynecologist on the Chinese medical team. After a detailed examination of Juma and the improvement of the surgical plan with relevant departments, Xu Xinlan decided to perform minimally invasive surgery to remove the tumor and save the ovaries. The operating room is in poor condition, which is a great test for doctors. In the end, with the close cooperation of multiple departments of the medical team, the operation was successfully completed. Juma happily said, "Thanks to the Chinese doctors, I didn't expect to receive the most advanced treatment at my doorstep. ”
For the 32nd Zanzibar medical team, there are many such stories: Shi Xiaoying, an obstetrician and gynecologist, successfully operated on a woman with a threatened uterine rupture at Abdullah Mcai Hospital, and Qian Jian, a ENT doctor, Xue Jia, and Jiang Jinhua, an anesthesiologist, completed 40 tonsil and adenoid removal operations in two days with local doctors......
The professionalism and superb medical skills of Chinese doctors have won the trust of the local people and won their sincere gratitude. Dr. Sheng Lei, a stomatist, once received such a special gift: after the successful operation of a patient with maxillofacial fracture, in order to express his gratitude to Sheng Lei and the medical team, he took a rooster that he had raised for several months and took a boat for nearly 8 hours to thank the doctor, "Without the superb operation of Chinese doctors, I would not have recovered so quickly." Sheng Lei declined the gift, but he was very moved in his heart, "This experience made me fully feel the significance of foreign aid medical work. ”
In September last year, President Mwini of Zanzibar, Tanzania, met with the medical team and presented medals and commemorative certificates to all members of the team in recognition of their contributions. Mwini said that the medical team has made outstanding contributions to the health of the people of Zanzibar and the friendship between Zanzibar and China, and the new technology and traditional Chinese medicine treatment methods brought by the medical team have helped the people of Zanzibar relieve their pain and protect their health, and promoted the improvement of Zanzibar's medical level. ”
"It has helped us a lot to improve our medical services"
From the first X-ray machine, CT equipment, to the only MRI machine in the entire Zanzibar region, the equipment and materials of the imaging department of Nazmoga Hospital are all donated from China. Not long ago, the imaging department also added remote video equipment. Through remote technology, the Chinese medical team can connect with high-quality medical resources in China and conduct online consultations on local complex cases. The five radiologists in Zanzibar have grown up under the guidance of groups of Chinese medical team members.
After graduating from medical school, Murhat came to work at Nazmoga Hospital. He often reads and discusses with Yang Weizhe, a radiologist on the medical team. Every time he encountered something that he was not sure about, Murhart would ask Yang Weizhe for advice, learned a lot of advanced technology and diagnostic methods, and the level of diagnosis also made a lot of progress. Yang Weizhe said that despite the heavy workload and the large number of difficult cases referred and consulted, he always finds time to communicate and discuss with local imaging medical staff, introduce China's advanced diagnostic technology, and "strive to leave a 'medical team that cannot be taken away' for the local area." ”
Teach a man to fish, and teach him to fish. The Chinese medical team organized multiple sessions of offline multidisciplinary knowledge training and technical teaching in Zanzibar to teach advanced technology and exchange diagnosis and treatment experience. In addition to sharing professional knowledge and introducing the latest medical research results, diagnostic techniques and treatment methods, the medical team members also brought doctors from local hospitals to participate in clinical consultations, guiding them on how to examine patients, formulate treatment plans, and communicate effectively with patients. During the training, local doctors are often attracted by the exquisite skills of Chinese doctors and the breadth and depth of TCM culture.
In August last year, with the help of the Chinese medical team, the Kiwenji District Hospital, a China-Africa counterpart hospital located in Zanzibar, successfully organized the hospital's first laparoscopic operation. During the operation, the chief surgeon Zhao Xiaojun explained in detail the key points and precautions of each link while operating. Tamim, the head of the hospital, said: "Every on-site training and every operation conducted by the Chinese medical team is invaluable and has helped us a lot to improve the level of medical services. ”
The China-aided Zanzibar medical team is the second foreign medical team sent by the Chinese government to Africa. Over the past 60 years, since 1963, when China sent its first foreign medical team to Algeria, China has sent a total of 30,000 medical teams to 76 countries and regions, treating 290 million patients, and more than 2,000 of them have been honored by recipient countries...... At present, the members of the 33rd China (Jiangsu) medical team to Zanzibar have started to work, and a new journey to benefit the local people has begun, and a new moving chapter is being written. (Reporter Zhou Zhuobin, Che Bin, Hou Lulu, Shen Xiaoxiao)