THERE are currently nine members of the 17th Chinese Medical Team in Lesotho who are working in various health facilities across the country, with specialties covering obstetrics and gynaecology, internal medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics, acupuncture, anesthesiology, and radiology.
health
Nov. 23, 2023
MOSA MAOENG
4 min read
Chinese health experts applauded for splendid job in Lesotho
The Maseru District Hospital under construction
Story highlights
Chinese health commissioner says China-Lesotho exchanges and cooperation on health, represented by medical aid cooperation, have a long history
This was said by the Deputy Director of the Hubei Provincial Health Commission in China, Liu Dongru, during his visit to the Maseru District Hospital on Monday this week.
Dongru said: “This year marks the 60th anniversary of the dispatch of Chinese medical teams to foreign countries and also the 60th anniversary of Hubei Province dispatching foreign medical teams. Since 1997, China (Hubei Province) has been dispatching medical teams to the Kingdom of Lesotho. Over the past 26 years, a total of 184 health specialists in 17 batches have been dispatched.”
He further indicated that over the past 26 years, the Chinese Medical Team in Lesotho has treated more than 200, 000 patients, delivered more than 10, 000 newborns, diagnosed and treated a large number of common and frequently occurring diseases, and cured many difficult diseases.
He said operations such as hip replacement, correction of the congenital horseshoe foot, anastomosis of the brachial aorta, and resection of huge ovarian tumours, which were difficult to perform locally, have been completed successfully.
“A series of new techniques have been carried out by the medical team, such as modified radical mastectomy, tension-free inguinal hernia repair using a patch, and ultrasound-guided iliofascial block anesthesia. Many severe patients suffering hemopneumothorax, hemorrhagic shock, pericardial tamponade, and other critical cases are rescued.
“The Chinese Medical Team also made use of weekends and holidays to go into the remote mountainous areas and schools in Lesotho for rounds of medical visits and free medical treatments, receiving a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks from the Lesotho people,” Dongru added.
He said that although the team members are far away from their motherland and relatives, they serve the health of the people of Lesotho wholeheartedly with their selfless dedication and superb medical technology, filling in many gaps in medical technology and making important contributions to the improvement of the medical service level in Lesotho.
Commenting on the general health cooperation between China and Lesotho, Dongru said: “When President Xi Jinping (of the People’s Republic of China) met Lesotho’s former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane in Beijing in September 2018, he pointed out that “China and Lesotho are good friends and good partners. The bilateral relationship sets a good example of mutual respect and equal cooperation between big and small countries.” Health cooperation is an important part of the all-round cooperation between China and Lesotho.
“China-Lesotho exchanges and cooperation on health, represented by medical aid cooperation, have a long history, a solid foundation, and remarkable results, contributing to the deepening of China-Lesotho friendship.”
He said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, and China-Africa health cooperation under the “Belt and Road” Initiative will embrace more opportunities for development.
Hubei Province has always attached great importance to the health cooperation between China and Lesotho. “Taking the cooperation between paired hospitals as an opportunity, we will consider the actual needs of Lesotho and assist local hospitals in developing key specialties, training medical backbones, teaching advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies and service models, and leaving behind a ‘Chinese medical team that cannot be taken away’, all of which shall effectively improve the medical and health services in Lesotho, as well as the health and well-being of Lesotho people,” he said.
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He added: “We warmly welcome the personnel of Lesotho’s health authorities and medical institutions to visit Hubei, China, and sincerely invite you to participate in the World Health Expo to be held in Wuhan, Hubei, in 2024. China-Lesotho health cooperation continues to be in-depth, with broad prospects and a promising future, which requires joint efforts from both sides to promote the implementation of cooperation and realise mutual benefits and win-win results, so as to inject new impetus for consolidating the traditional friendship between China and Lesotho and building a China-Africa community with a shared future in health in the new era.”
By the end of this year, the Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic should be finished with construction, and operations are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2024.
During his visit to the hospital earlier this year, the Chinese ambassador to Lesotho, Lei Kezhong, said what he had seen was proof that the facility would be state-of-the-art upon completion.
The Chinese government donated CNY 400 million (M984 850 400) to build the 200-bed hospital, and construction began in February 2021.
When completed, it should benefit at least 400, 000 residents of Maseru and surrounding areas. Shanghai Construction Business, a Chinese construction company was engaged to build the hospital through funding from the Chinese government.
In addition to the Maseru District Hospital, two other significant Chinese government-funded projects will also be finished by December.
These include the 80-megawatt Ramarothole Solar Power Plant and the 91-kilometre Mpiti-Sehlabathebe Road. The Exim Bank of China provided concession loans to finance the last two projects.
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