China | Hubei | General Secretary
This year marks the 60th anniversary of China's dispatch of medical teams to Algeria, as well as the 60th anniversary of China's dispatch of medical teams to overseas aid. Over the past 60 years, China has dispatched 27 batches of medical teams and 3522 medical staff to Afghanistan, treating over 27 million patients and delivering over 2.07 million newborns, setting a monument to the friendship between China and Afghanistan.
-- On July 18, 2023, President Xi Jinping emphasized during talks with Algerian President Teburn who was on a state visit to China at the Great Hall of the People.
60 years of medical aid from China to Afghanistan
Don't take mountains and seas as the distance, let your heart reach thousands of miles together.
On April 6, 1963, at the request of the Algerian government, China's selected Chinese medical aid team set off to work in Algeria. This was the first Chinese medical aid team selected since the founding of the People's Republic of China, with 24 members mainly composed of experts from Hubei Province and participation from provinces and cities such as Beijing. From then on, the Chinese government officially launched international cooperation and assistance in health, mainly in the form of medical teams, to third world countries such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
For the past 60 years
China has dispatched 27 batches of medical teams to Algeria
The number of dispatched personnel ranks first in the country
As a "white clad diplomat" conveying friendship between China and Africa
A holy hand in promoting the essence of traditional Chinese medicine
A disseminator of telling good Chinese stories
Generation after generation of healthcare workers
Relay Shines the "Chinese Medical Team"
This "golden signboard"!
"White clad diplomat"
The new mission of a borderless doctor
On the morning of July 17th, Algerian President Teppen arrived in Beijing and embarked on a five-day visit to China. Coincidentally, during President A's visit to China, a special Hubei guest also visited Algeria.
He is Zhang Dingyu, the recipient of the national honorary title of "People's Hero".
Zhang Dingyu was once a member of the 17th batch of medical teams in Hubei to aid Algeria, and also the first group of borderless doctors in Hubei and China. Commissioned by the Hubei Provincial Government and the Hubei Provincial Health Commission for this visit, Zhang Dingyu once again set foot on familiar land. He expressed with emotion, "I happen to be 60 years old this year, marking the 60th anniversary of China's aid to Afghanistan. I think it's still a wonderful thing that these two numbers come together."
For 60 years, at this time, the 27th batch of Chinese medical teams is guarding Algeria. These young Chinese doctors are about to complete their two-year aid to Africa and will be returning to their home country in September. They will be replaced by the 28th batch of Chinese medical teams.
Time passes, mission is passed down. In 1997, at the age of 34, Zhang Dingyu, like the other team members in front of him, came from Hubei to faraway Africa, where he worked as an anesthesiologist at the Central Hospital of the University of Constantine in Algeria. He returned to the place where he had fought, and memories of more than 20 years ago came to him one by one.
I heard that a Chinese doctor who had previously assisted Afghanistan was visiting. An Algerian woman named Fatima rushed over from home and found Zhang Dingyu, hoping to inquire about the name of another Chinese doctor from him.
Ouyang Shanbei, a member of the 17th batch of medical teams assisting Afghanistan in Hubei Province
Originally, in 1998, Fatima was sent to this hospital for emergency treatment. It was Ouyang Shanbei, a member of the 17th batch of medical teams in Hubei Province, who performed emergency surgery on her. Dr. Ouyang was also Zhang Dingyu's teammate in the same group.
With the help of Zhang Dingyu's contact, Fatima successfully found her "life-saving benefactor". She expressed her gratitude and blessings to Dr. Ouyang through a video call and agreed to reunite in Algeria in the future.
Professor Liu Yuling, the captain of the Batna Division of the 25th batch of Chinese medical aid teams to Algeria, rescued multiple critically ill mothers during the aid period
African friends are full of gratitude and nostalgia for batches of Chinese medical teams. Until now, Algerian women still have their children refer to Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists as "Chinese mothers.".
Zhang Dingyu said that officials from the Algerian Ministry of Health and experts from the Ministry of Health will be invited to recommend the Wuhan Health Expo to them, so that they can form a group to understand the progress of China's health industry and the rapid development of China's medical technology, which can help the two countries better exchange ideas.
Mohammed, Secretary General of the Algerian Ministry of Health ▪ Talesi introduced, "Since China sent its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, successive members of the Chinese medical team have helped the Algerian people alleviate their pain and maintain their physical health. We hope that the friendship between the two countries can be long-lasting and everlasting."
Although a country has boundaries, doctors have no boundaries!
"White clad diplomats" write a new chapter in the friendship and medical cooperation between China and Africa.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
African patients with "circle fans"
The members of the non medical aid team not only bear the responsibility of saving lives and helping the injured, but also spread Chinese culture, especially traditional Chinese medicine culture, to the local people. Acupuncture and moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine therapy more than 2700 years ago, has become a unique business card for cultural exchanges and people to people connections between China and Africa through the relay of Hubei aid doctors.
On April 6, 1963, the Chinese government sent the first foreign medical support team to Algeria, and Xu Xianze, a doctor of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, brought acupuncture and moxibustion therapy to Africa. In order to win the trust of the local people, the medical team not only completes hospital work, but also regularly travels to the countryside for medical treatment, crossing grasslands, mountains, and sometimes even walking dozens of kilometers to provide free consultations and medicine for residents.
The first batch of medical team for Afghanistan, Dr. Xu Xianze, introduced Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion treatment into Afghanistan, and cured all kinds of difficult and complicated patients
Gradually, the local people gradually contacted acupuncture and moxibustion, tried acupuncture and moxibustion, learned about acupuncture and moxibustion, and believed in acupuncture and moxibustion. The "Chinese magic needle" was heard locally. They call acupuncture and moxibustion "Libera", which translates to "Chinese magic needle". Chinese doctors have also become the most esteemed guests. Xu Xianze, 89 years old this year, recalled that the medical team was often invited to attend local weddings and was also received twice by the Algerian president.
Over the past 60 years, 27 groups of acupuncture and moxibustion doctors have successively succeeded, and a "permanent" medical team has continuously provided "acupuncture assistance" to the Afghan people.
Zhou Zhongyu, director of the acupuncture and moxibustion Department of the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and director of the acupuncture and moxibustion Research Institute of the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has just concluded his visit to Algeria. He still regrets the Algerian people's deep love for traditional Chinese medicine culture and acupuncture and moxibustion: "Going there again after six years, I feel the local people's love and esteem for traditional Chinese medicine culture and traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion, and I have a sense of pride and mission."
Acupuncture and moxibustion Traditional Technology Demonstration and Promotion Base of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was officially listed in Ben Arlon Hospital
In November 2018, the China Algeria Traditional Chinese Medicine Center was officially launched, led by Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Algerian Ben Akron Hospital. On the basis of acupuncture and moxibustion, it opened massage rehabilitation, bone injury diagnosis and treatment special projects, and gradually expanded to various clinical specialties of traditional Chinese medicine.
On June 19, 2023, the Demonstration and Promotion Base of acupuncture and moxibustion and Moxibustion Traditional Technology of Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was officially launched in Ben Arlon Hospital. Zhou Zhongyu, the president of the hospital, Hafsa Qidan, and Yang Yong, the head of the 27th batch of Chinese medical team for Afghanistan, unveiled the plaque together. This is an important task of Zhou Zhongyu's visit to Algeria.
"Qi acupuncture is a traditional acupuncture technique, which has obvious effects on pain, is simple and convenient to operate, and is very suitable for promotion in Afghanistan." Zhou Zhongyu hopes to promote Qi acupuncture as a project of "Chinese medicine center", so as to train more professionals in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion for Afghanistan.
On June 22, Professor Zhou Zhongyu entered the university for the first time and gave a lecture on acupuncture and moxibustion for teachers and students of the Medical College of Algiers First University.
In addition to curing the disease and saving the people, the team members also need to continue to expand the clinical courses of Chinese medicine on the basis of acupuncture and moxibustion, help Algerian medical staff improve their professional level, expand the publicity and promotion of Chinese medicine, improve the cognition of clinicians and the public about Chinese medicine, and promote the sowing, germination and blooming of Chinese medicine culture in Algeria.
Illness that cannot be treated well, seek Chinese doctors!
It has become a consensus in many countries in Africa.
"The Three Generations of Medicine"
Be a disseminator of telling good Chinese stories
"The friendship between nations lies in mutual affinity between the people, and mutual affinity between the people lies in mutual understanding."
The Chinese foreign aid medical team is willing to contribute, which has enhanced the mutual understanding and public opinion integration between China and the vast number of developing countries. The simple customs of the recipient countries have also brought great emotions to the medical team members.
Tu Jingjing, an ophthalmologist at Xiangzhou District People's Hospital in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, is a "third generation doctor". Her grandmother is an obstetrician and gynecologist, and her mother has been a nurse for a lifetime. On September 3, 2021, when the world's COVID-19 epidemic was at a high level, the 27th batch of Chinese medical aid teams to Algeria went on a retrograde expedition. As a member of Tiaret's team, Tu Jingjing set out to participate in the two-year medical aid to Africa.
"After each surgery, the patient sincerely thanks me, and there is also an elderly grandfather in his 80s who doesn't seem to have a wealthy family, but every time he comes for a follow-up visit, he brings me a candy and wants to see me eat it with his own eyes." Tu Jingjing said of her work in a foreign country, full of emotion, "Only by doing more for the people of Afghanistan can we deserve this respect."
Tu Jingjing inspects the eyes of foreign friends
In her interactions with local doctors, nurses, and patients, Tu Jingjing's relationship with everyone has deepened. Every Friday, which is a local Sunday, Tu Jingjing takes the initiative to take on a 24-hour emergency duty. Medical staff often bring her delicious dishes such as lamb and hamburgers as a gesture of gratitude. Tu Jingjing will also bring the "leek egg" steamed bun and onion egg cake made by himself to everyone for tasting. "The taste of pancakes is quite good!" Many medical staff praised Chinese cuisine.
Tu Jingjing learns language from local healthcare professionals
Language is also a challenge that Tu Jingjing needs to overcome. Although the members of the work team had received brief language training before the aid to Africa, there were many difficulties and obstacles when it came to communicating with the local people in Algeria. The hospital nurse adopted the method of hand drawing drawings, allowing Tu Jingjing to quickly grasp the common language of communication with patients in practice.
Tu Jingjing said that in her spare time, she often tells the local medical staff and patients about China's development, showcases China's beauty, explains China's customs and traditions, tells the story of China well to African people, conveys the good voice of China, and is also a mission of Chinese people abroad.
Over the past 60 years, Hubei Province has sent 3706 foreign aid medical personnel to Algeria and Lesotho, mainly involving medical personnel in different specialties such as internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and obstetrics, orthopedics, ophthalmology, anesthesia, and traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion.
We have received over 27.57 million patients, treated over 2.87 million hospitalized patients, carried out over 1.75 million surgeries, rescued over 200000 critically ill patients, delivered over 2.08 million newborns, trained over 18000 medical staff for the recipient countries, and held over 530 academic exchange conferences.
60 Years of Inheritance
60 years of persistence
It's generation after generation, batches after batches
Chinese medical workers
A hymn of life composed with sweat and dedication
They are practicing with practical actions
The Great Oath of a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity
Produced by Hubei Publishing and Editing Department | Please indicate the source when reprinting
