China’s medical help for Africa to continue, says Xi
Print Edition
Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday that China will continue to promote cooperation with African countries on health and development.
China will continue to send medical teams and cataract surgeons to Africa and will deepen cooperation and health personnel training in maternal and child health care, Xi said when meeting with African representatives for a health forum.
Representatives from African countries and international organizations were in Beijing for the Ministerial Forum on China-Africa Health Development.
“Human development is at the core of development. We hope this forum will substantially push forward health cooperation between China and Africa,” Xi said.
For the past five decades, China has sent medical teams totaling 18,000 people to Africa and relieved 250 million people from pain and disease, Xi said.
Recalling the lasting friendship between China and Africa, Xi said the relationship has weathered the test of a changing international landscape and gained in sincerity and trust.
China-Africa relations have entered a fast track for development since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, accompanied by increased mutual trust, pragmatic cooperation and closer coordination in international affairs, he said.
Representing Africa, Comoros Vice President Fouad Mohadji thanked the Chinese government’s long-term support of health and poverty eradication initiatives on the continent, saying the forum has helped to strengthen mutually beneficial relations between Africa and China.
Representatives from China and 48 African countries as well as eight international organizations attended the forum, including Margaret Chan, director-general of World Health Organization, Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS executive director, and Babatunde Osotimehin, the UN Population Fund executive director.
Vice Premier Liu Yandong said at the forum’s opening ceremony that China plans to send 1,500 medical personnel to Africa in the next three years to perform free cataract operations.
Free operations
Since 2010, China has sent medical experts to treat cataract patients in Yemen, Botswana, Algeria and other developing countries. So far, 1,000 free cataract operations have been performed.
Liu said the Chinese government will also support medical cooperation with their African partners to expand accessibility to medicine.
It has been 50 years since China sent its first aid mission to developing countries to help with disease treatment and prevention, and introduce advanced medical sciences and clinical techniques.
China has sent 23,000 medical workers to 66 countries and regions, treating about 270 million people in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
Separately, health ministers and officials at the forum released a Beijing Declaration setting out a guideline for cooperation in areas including malaria, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and immunization, according to a press release.
In many African countries, HIV prevalence is above 25 percent, and over a million people die from AIDS-related causes every year.
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