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Helping heal friends beyond borders

By Xie Fang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-13 07:41

Chinese physicians pluck taros they planted by themselves in their backyard in Sikasso, Mali, in this file photo. [China Daily/Zhejiang public health bureau]

While she has never allowed herself to cry in the face of difficulties, Chen said she nearly shed tears at the farewell party for the medical team she was helping to take over a week after her arrival in Sikasso, a city about four hours' drive from Mali's capital Bamako.

"Many others cried then, because we felt terribly lonely in a foreign country and had no idea what would happen to us in the following years," Chen said.

But duty soon called and there was "nothing better than working hard to get rid of depression", she said.

As a gynecologist, Chen also found herself being the busiest and hardest worker among her colleagues there.

Mali women had an average fertility rate of 6.8 in 2004, compared with the broader region's rate of 5.3, figures from the World Health Organization showed.

However, Mali women do not have adequate, modern medical treatment and are not aware of the need for prenatal care in the poverty-stricken country, Chen said.

The women also usually deliver their children at home rather than in a hospital, barring cases of emergency, the gynecologist said. As such, the women who went to her for treatment invariably suffered from difficulties in childbirth.

The heavy workload stretched Chen to her physical limits - she sometimes performed up to three Caesarean section births a night, compared to the few she carried out every week in China.

"Once, my Chinese colleague cried in silence while performing an operation. We were too exhausted but there was no one to help us out," Chen said.

The Chinese medical teams had to face other challenges, including backward medical equipment, adapting to the tropical weather and the threat of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV.

None of the hospitals in Mali actually offered essential medical equipment such as CT or color doppler ultrasound scanners, the Zhejiang public health bureau's Zhu Yaochuan said.

An "emergency room" in Mali was also said to be nothing more than a table, chair and bed. The Chinese doctors had to carry medical boxes filled with basic medical supplies of their own to the hospitals.

To help improve the health facilities in Mali, Zhejiang's public health bureau has been donating more than 4 million yuan ($585,000) worth of medical equipment and medicine to Mali every year, Zhu said.

In 2007, the Chinese government decided to establish a 150-bed hospital in Bamako. The new hospital is expected to be completed this year, with advanced medical equipment including CT and ultra sound scanners.

An anti-malaria center is also slated to be built in Mali to help fight the disease, which threatens residents particularly during the rainy season.

Similarly, more Chinese medical staff specializing in tropical diseases will be sent to the center, with specific anti-malarial drugs distributed free to local patients, Zhu said.

All these are part of Chinese efforts to provide medical aid to Africa.

China dispatched its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, launching the country's 45-year drive to supply medical aid to Africa and other developing countries, Tian Min, deputy director of the international health exchange and cooperation center affiliated to the Ministry of Health, told China Daily.

By July last year, China had sent 18,656 medical personnel to treat about 190 million patients in Africa.

There are currently 1,278 Chinese medical aid team members working in 48 developing countries worldwide, among which 1,041 medical personnel of 42 teams are in Africa, Tian said.

At the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in November 2006, President Hu Jintao announced an eight-step package to provide assistance to Africa in three years.

Over the next three years, China would build 30 hospitals in Africa and provide 300 million yuan of grants that would help cover the building of 30 malaria prevention and treatment centers to fight malaria in Africa, Hu said.

"That marked the beginning of cooperation between China and Africa to fight malaria, as part of a broader aim to share China's experience in preventing and treating the disease, and to introduce advanced medicine and medical equipment to Africa," Tian said.

To date, China has built 10 malaria prevention and treatment centers in 10 countries, as well as sent six batches of medical experts and trained 163 local doctors, he said.

"However, hindered by wars in some African countries and a number of local governments' inadequate attention to control malaria, there is still a long way to go before we achieve the goal of building 30 centers," Tian said.

The country has invested 80 million yuan ($12 million) for each hospital that would be stocked with CT scanners, X-ray machines and other medical equipment, he said.

"We will move some of the Chinese medical workers to the hospitals once they are completed. The Chinese doctors are expected to make the most of the necessary medical equipment in the hospitals," he said.

Beyond equipment and medicine, Chinese medical aid to Africa will continue to be fueled by healthcare professionals such as gynecologist Chen Yu.

It is their dedication to improving the lives of Mali residents that helped them overcome the challenges of being in the African region.

Faced with frequent food shortages, Chinese doctors had to grow their own vegetables that included eggplant, tomato and cabbage, Zhu said.

Chen also said her social life was "plain as the desert outside her dormitory".

Every three months, her team leader would travel three hours to the Chinese embassy to borrow videotapes of movies for the Chinese healthcare workers to view. Chen would spend most of whatever free time she had reading.

She hardly phoned her family because of the high costs, but she would not miss speaking to them on Spring Festival and Children's Day, walking half an hour in the middle of the night to the nearest post office to make the call home at half the cost.

The spread of the Internet has also alleviated this communication obstacle Chen once faced.

Each doctor is now equipped with a computer so that they can chat with family members and friends online, said Xiong Zhiming, the current leader of the Chinese medical team in Mali.

There are also mini stereo systems and TV sets for the staff, Xiong said.

But it is the satisfaction from treating patients that keep the Chinese medical workers in the region.

Huang Meixian volunteered to work in Mali and left China in 2003 for a two-year stint in the African country.

Just a year after his arrival in Mali, his father died of an acute disease. Despite missing the funeral, the director of the infection department at Hangzhou's No 1 Hospital managed to hold a memorial for his father in the desert. All team members attended the event. Mali doctors also helped comfort the 54-year-old Huang.

"I feel knots of guilt when I think of my father's death, but I don't regret going to Mali for a minute," he said.

More than 30 kinds of emerging, infectious diseases have occurred worldwide since 2000, and many of those exist in Africa, Huang said. Working in Mali enabled him to conduct deeper and wider research on infectious diseases, something he could not do as easily in China.

"What's more, I like the Malians. They do not suffer from the trappings of a fast-paced, modern society," he said.

Chen echoed Huang's sentiments. She recalled how the Chinese healthcare workers sometimes received roast lamb from the local people, as a form of thanks for their help.

"They gave us the best that they could offer. I think they treated us not only as their good friends, but also as their brothers and sisters," she said.

Last year, Huang jointly compiled a popular science book with another doctor for Malians to promote preventive measures against a number of infectious diseases and help train local medical workers.

The book has been well received in Mali.

"Mali has maintained a close relationship with China for a long time. No matter how world politics may constantly change, Mali is always on our side," Zhu Yaochuan from the Zhejiang public health bureau said.

"Those we have sent to Mali are not only medical professionals, but also envoys of friendship," Zhu said.

"Though they spend most of their time in the hospitals, their every act and move helps promote Chinese culture. Many Malians get to know China through our medical workers," Zhu said.

Lan Tian contributed to the story

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