The symposium celebrating the 45th anniversary of Hunan provincial foreign-aid medical care was held in Changsha on December 25, 2018. Representatives from three agencies including the Xiangya Hospital of the Central South University and five foreign-aid team members of previous years delivered speeches. Vice Governor Wu Guiying attended.

 

Since 1973, Hunan has undertaken the task of dispatching medical teams to Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe in Africa. In the past 45 years, the province has sent 438 medical staff in 36 batches for long-term foreign aid medical services to the recipient countries, and 133 short-term ones in 11 batches. More than 800,000 patients have been diagnosed and treated, more than 200,000 operations have been carried out, and 8,000 local medical staff have been trained. In the past 45 years, the Hunan foreign-aid medical team members have borne in mind the motherland's trust and carried forward the spirits of foreign-aid medical care; that is, “Not afraid of hardship, willingness to sacrifice, saving and helping the wounded, and showing the greatest love". The teams have wholeheartedly served the people of the aided countries, expanded the influence of China, and also set up the positive image of China. It also played a role in enhancing the friendly relations between China and the recipient countries.

 

Wu Guiying pointed out that foreign-aid medical service is a political task. Hunan should take the 45th anniversary as an opportunity to further strengthen leadership and political awareness, and effectively enhance the sense of responsibility and mission. She said, “We must base ourselves on the new era; adhere to new requirements; select excellent medical workers to join in the foreign-aid medical team; focus on integrating resources to create quality projects; better play the comprehensive role of the provincial foreign-aid medical team; and, improve the effectiveness of foreign-aid medical work, so as to create a new pattern of the provincial foreign-aid medical work.”

 

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

 

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

 

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn