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The 19th Chinese medical team poses for a photo. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

The 19th Chinese medical team, including nine medical workers and one chef from Jiaxing, Zhejiang province and an interpreter, took off on June 11, 2022, from Guangzhou to Bangui, capital of Central Africa, offering medical assistance to locals.

Located south of the Sahara Desert and north of the Congo Basin, Central Africa is one of the least developed countries in the world, with a very weak public health foundation.

Zhang Lixia, one of the medical workers on the team, is responsible for gynecological outpatient and gynecological color ultrasound work, and sometimes also gives patients intravenous drips due to the shortage of medical staff.

Xu Yan, a surgeon at Jiaxing No 1 Hospital, said that the biggest challenge is that emergency measures are limited when it comes to an emergency during surgery.

"There is not even a piece of saline gauze to stop bleeding. The voltage in the hospital is unstable and there are frequent power cuts. We need to prepare many emergency plans and be ready to respond at any time," Xu added.

In addition to medical support, technical assistance is also an important mission of the medical team.

Bangui is located near the equator, with strong ultraviolet radiation and perennial high temperatures. Local eye-disease patients are becoming younger and younger.

"I want to teach ophthalmology to more local doctors and impart them with useful knowledge," said Zhang Youmei.

Paul, a doctor of Friendship Hospital, is currently Zhang's assistant and has studied ophthalmic expertise. Zhang sent him books on related subjects, and the two have technical discussions from time to time with the help of translation software. In the specific operation, Zhang guided him step by step.

Since 1968, Zhejiang has been sending medical teams to Mali, Central Africa and Namibia. A total of 1,237 medical team members have been sent. While providing timely and effective medical services to local people, the medical teams have been greeted with warmth and kindness from locals.

Local patients send thank-you letters to Zhang Lixia (middle). [Photo/zjol.com.cn]