By Wu Siya

 

BEIJING, Aug. 9 (China Economic Net) - "We are greatly encouraged by China's consistent assistance to Africa in the field of medical and healthcare over the past decades. Today, many African hospitals, even in remote areas, use medical equipment and technologies from China, which has benefited more and more people. Meanwhile, we are also optimistic about the prospects of China-Africa medical cooperation," a cardiologist from Namibia told China Economic Net reporter at 2024 Beijing Forum for Global Health (China-Hospeq 2024), which opened on August 9.

 

African experts and insiders from healthcare field at China-Hospeq 2024 [Photo/ ChinaHospeq 2024]

 

Over the past 61 years, more than 30,000 Chinese medical personnel have participated in overseas medical aid missions, treating nearly 300 million patients and earning widespread international acclaim. 

 

An African expert visited the Exhibition of Achievements of the Paired Hospital Cooperation Mechanism [Photo/Wu Siya]

 

In 2020, China announced that it would establish 30 paired hospital cooperation mechanisms with African countries. Through concerted efforts, 37 paired hospital cooperation mechanisms involving 67 hospitals from 36 countries and regions have achieved substantial progression. 

 

These partnerships cover 26 specialties  respiratory medicine, intensive care, cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiovascular imaging, Infectious diseases, anesthesia, radiology, pathology, emergency medicine, general surgery, urology, neurology, neurosurgery, breast surgery, trauma, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, otolaryngology, reproductive medicine, gastroenterology endoscopy, wound infection and healing, and clinical integrated skills training.

 

"China's medical cooperation with Africa is the most long-lasting, timely and comprehensive," said Paul Frimpong, Executive Director and Senior Research Fellow of the Africa-China Centre for Policy & Advisory. "Vaccine self-sufficiency, as the cornerstone of Africa's public health, is the goal that Chinese friends have been helping Africa achieve."

 

By now, over 100 Chinese experts have been dispatched for exchange programs, and more than 200 foreign medical workers have been invited to China for exchange and study. 

 

In 2018, the China-Africa Neurosurgery Specialist Training Program was officially launched with the support of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) and the Confederation of African Neurosurgeons (CAANS). The first batch of eight trainees came from seven countries including Ghana, Kenya, Guinea, Tanzania, Liberia, Chad and Gambia.

 

There are almost no neurosurgeons in the countries where these students come from. In 2024, a research report from the Journal of Neurosurgery showed that there were about 72,967 neurosurgeons in the world, with a combined density of 0.93 neurosurgeons per 100,000 people. Among them, there were 1.58 in the Western Pacific and 0.34 in Southeast Asia, as well as only 0.11 in Africa.