China has now 42 humanitarian medical teams providing services abroad, an official with the Ministry of Health announced at a meeting April 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the first Chinese overseas medical team.
The 1,100 humanitarian medical workers were selected from different provincial medical administrations. Most of them, 30 to 50 years old, are leading senior technicians in their field and put in a period of service of two years.
The first overseas humanitarian medical team was organized in April 1963 and its medical staff were selected from Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Liaoning provinces and Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Changchun cities.
Since then, China has sent 18,000 medical workers to 65 countries and regions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and also to Oceania.
With the support of local governments and their people, the humanitarian teams have provided medical services to over 240 million people that have included common diseases as well as recurring endemics, heart disease, cancer treatment, and amputations. At the same time, the teams bring and promote traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture and massage.
The medical teams sponsor academic lectures and training to enhance the medical skills of local doctors and nurses. Many local trainees go on to become vitally important to medical practice in their countries.
The performance of overseas humanitarian medical teams won universal applause from local governments and their people. Over 600 doctors and nurses have received medals of excellence awarded by foreign presidents.
(China.org.cn by Liu Yuming, April 11, 2003)
