TANZANIA: AT the beginning of the Chinese new year, the 27th Chinese (Shandong) medical team aiding Tanzania received a letter of thanks from the families of local patients.
The letter said, “Thank you the Chinese medical team for the treatment and donating to our treatment expenses. Thank you for everything you have done.” The patient mentioned in the thank-you letter is an eightyear-old Tanzanian primary school student, Ruweiss Ali Kato.
The Chinese medical team aiding Tanzania discovered that Kato suffered from congenital umbilical hernia during a free clinic. Due to poverty , there was no condition for treatment, and it developed into a huge abdominal wall hernia.
On February 15, with the assistance of the medical team, Kato went to Tanzania’s Muhimbili National Hospital for diagnosis and treatment. After detailed examination, the director of pediatrics and experts from the medical team formulated a surgical plan for him.
However, Kato’s family could not afford the expensive hospitalization expenses, Dr.Zhang Junqiao,leader of the Chinese medical team, and all the members decided to afford the medical expenses of little Kato.
China Railway Construction Engineering Group East Africa Company also sent condolences money to the family. With the close cooperation of experts from the Chinese medical team and local doctors, Kato’s operation went smoothly, and the “football” on his body finally disappeared. It is worth mentioning that Louis’ mother wanted the doctors from the medical team to give him a Chinese name, and the Chinese medical team decided to name him “Qilu”,the same meaning of Shandong province.
Foreign aid medical care has always been an important part of China’s foreign aid work. This year not only marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tanzania, but also the 60th anniversary of China-Tanzania medical cooperation.
Since August 1964, Chinese medical teams have begun to carry out medical assistance in Tanzania. So far, Shandong province have sent 27 batches of medical teams with a total of 1,084 people.
The 27th medical team to assist Tanzania consists of 11 members, covering 8 majors including anesthesiology, cardiac surgery, cardiology, critical care medicine, respiratory medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, and neurosurgery. It will perform a two-year foreign aid mission in Tanzania.
As the story develops, it should be noted that over the last six decades, more than 1,500 members of the Chinese medical team have been dispatched to Tanzania According to the Director of Curative Services in the Ministry of Health, Paschal Ruggajo, they have saved the lives of more than 20 million Tanzanians suffering from complicated ailments and have helped address various technological gaps in local hospitals.
Ruggajo made the remarks in a speech delivered during a ceremony to bid farewell to the 26th group of the Chinese medical team and welcome the 27th group in Tanzania’s commercial hub of Dar es Salaam.
Tanzanian medical experts have greatly benefited from the long-standing cooperation in the field of health over the last six decades, Ruggajo said.
The 11 members of the 26th Chinese medical team have worked in Tanzania for two years, stationed at the Muhimbili National Hospital, the Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute, the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute and the Mbeya Regional Referral Hospital.
Suo Peng, charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, said that in the past two years, the Chinese experts completed close to 15,000 diagnoses, conducted more than 3,000 surgeries, participated in nearly 2,000 critical care interventions, managed anesthesia for over 7,000 cases, conducted over 400 training sessions, and trained nearly 2,000 individuals.
“In December 2022, the team collaborated with local doctors on a 13-hour thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm resection surgery, leading to the successful recovery of the patient,” he said.
Peng also expressed hope that the newly arrived 27th batch of medical staff, comprising 11 specialists from renowned hospitals in China specializing in pediatric, cardiac, neurosurgery, orthopedics and other fields, would dedicate themselves to safeguarding the health of the Tanzanian people, further contributing to the friendship between China and Tanzania.