Recently, the 55th Anniversary Commemoration Meeting of Beijing’s Foreign Aid Medical Teams and Summary Meeting of Foreign Aid Medical Teams was held. Li Wei, Deputy Director General of Department of International Cooperation of the National Health Commission, said that Beijing has consistently ranked among the top performers in foreign aid medical work, with its foreign aid medical teams having provided diagnosis and treatment to about 830,000 patients and completed around 209,000 surgeries.
In 1968, Beijing sent its first foreign aid medical team to Guinea and has since sent a total of 1,054 medical workers in 56 batches to 12 countries and regions. Currently, two medical teams are conducting missions abroad, they are the 30th batch aiding Guinea and the 2nd batch aiding Vanuatu.
Preliminary numbers show that Beijing's foreign aid medical teams have diagnosed and treated approximately 830,000 patients, rescued around 169,000 critically ill patients, and completed about 209,000 surgeries over the past 55 years. In recipient countries such as Guinea, the teams have achieved numerous groundbreaking milestones in local medical history and successfully addressed many gaps in medical technology. Furthermore, they have nurtured a group of highly-skilled management and medical professionals, established a long-term platform for exchange and assistance, and donated several medical centers for recipient countries.
Since 2018, Beijing has been innovating cooperation models and working mechanisms for foreign aid medical services, and completed the “China-Africa Friendship Hospital Pilot Project” approved by the State Council. This project has driven the comprehensive development across disciplines and cultivated a group of medical professional for the China-Guinea Friendship Hospital, building it into an influential medical center in Guinea and even in West Africa. Thanks to these efforts, patients in Guinea can now access professional treatments for neurological disorders, critical diseases, and trauma, a vision cherished by the country.
Beijing has also dispatched foreign aid medical and expert teams to support Africa in combating Ebola hemorrhagic fever, plague, and other epidemics. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the 27th, 28th, and 29th batches of medical workers to Guinea have assisted the country’s anti-epidemic efforts, providing policy consultation and technical guidance and sharing China's plans for epidemic prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment. In addition, various forms of online and offline training sessions have been organized to improve the diagnosis and treatment capabilities of recipient countries.
Li Wei pointed out that Beijing has always been at the forefront of China in foreign aid medical work, utilizing its medical expertise to meet the healthcare needs of recipient countries. It has made useful explorations in dispatching health policy consultants and in building the pilot project of China-Africa Friendship Hospital, which provides experiences that can be learned from, replicated, and promoted. These efforts have supported China’s overall diplomacy and enhanced the friendship between China and the recipient countries.
Gao Jian, Deputy Director General of Beijing Municipal Health Commission, said that Beijing will further enhance its medical aid, expand medical and health cooperation and exchanges, provide more targeted medical services, and put in place a system for medical aid to foreign countries, By doing so, Beijing endeavors to make greater contribution to the building of a global community of health for all, and the realization of the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and the United Nations’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
