On Thursday 21st June, Chinese Ambassador, Wu Peng, intimated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Kabba and other guests, that after a year of working in Sierra Leone the three medical teams – 19th Batch at Jui hospital, China CDC at the P3 lab and Chinese military medical experts at 34 hospital will all depart at the end of this month to make way for new teams.
He said the 19th batch under the leadership of Dr. Liang Lihui have been doing a wonderful job in the hospital since June 2017.
“In the past one year, they have completed treatments for more than 30,000 outpatients, conducted more than 300 successful major operations. I want to thank you all for the great job you have done. I also want to welcome the 20th batch that arrived on Wednesday headed by Dr. Li Jingdong.”
Ambassador Wu also thanked the 10-man team working at the P3 lab for their excellent job in training and working with their Sierra Leonean counterparts. He commended the team leader Dr. Xiao Ning and his team for their research on malaria, Zika, lassa fever, etc.
“I want to thank you all and also want to welcome the new team headed by Dr. Kan Biao as I believe you all will be in the frontline to make sure Ebola does not re-occur and other tropical diseases are contained.”
He finally thanked the doctors working at the 34 hospital from the Chinese military medical institution. He said they have conducted a number of detection and treatment work and they have trained a number of local medical workers.
He said Dr. Guo Xuejin who is the leader of the team, will be leaving but they have done very well for the hospital and hope the next team will continue where they left off.
Thanking the Chinese Ambassador for all what he has been doing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Kabba, said a nation with a broken health care system cannot prosper.
“Development is appreciated in a country, when its people are in sound health and mind. That is why the government places priority on establishing a robust healthcare system that is efficient, reliable, cost-effective, affordable and sustainable; capable of responding to epidemics such as cholera, Ebola, lassa virus and zika.”
He thanked the Chinese government for building the P3 bio-safety and sending different Chinese medical teams to work in Sierra Leone.
“Over the years, China has been helping in capacity building by providing scholarships and training personnel to improve the health. Our government is committed to deepening the tie between Sierra Leone and China for more cooperation in areas that promote the welfare of our people.”
Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Bureh Sesay, said public health issues are a big concern for the nation, but with the help of the Chinese government, there is a bright future for the coming generation.
“On 5th July we will witness the official commissioning and signing over certificate of the newly constructed infectious diseases prevention and control centre. This million dollar project was supported and built by the Chinese government to improve our health sector and by extension addressing the growing challenges on emerging infectious diseases.”
He said this project will improve the military’s capability to help in the medical conditions in the military as well as in the country. He thanked Dr. Guo Xuejin and his team and hope that the friendship between the two people will continue to flourish.
AT/23/6/18
By Austin Thomas
Monday June 25, 2018.
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