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ChinAfrica
A Tale of Boundless Care
Chinese medical teams provide much-needed assistance 
to people in Equatorial Guinea
By Ni Yanshuo 丨VOL. 15 April 2023 ·2023-03-27


Chen Zhuanghao (left) and his Chinese colleagues provide voluntary medical services to residents in a village in Centro Sur Province, Equatorial Guinea, on 12 March 2022

On the morning of 19 May 2022, when Chinese surgeon Chen Zhuanghao was doing his routine work in Bata General Hospital, Equatorial Guinea, he noticed something unusual. More and more local pupils aged 12 to 13 were visiting the hospital because of vomiting and abdominal pain. In just several hours, about 200 pupils with the same symptoms filled almost all corners of the hospital, waiting for medical treatment. 

After he talked to some pupils, he learned that they were suffering from allergic reaction after receiving diphtheria-tetanus vaccine injections. As the head of the Chinese medical team in the hospital, he immediately called all his Chinese colleagues to the hospital to help these pupils, some of whom started to show symptoms of choking sensation and expiratory dyspnoea. 

The eight Chinese doctors immediately joined local doctors in the hospital to treat these pupils. As the hospital did not have related medicines on hand, the Chinese medical team donated anti-allergic medicines they had brought from China, such as methylprednisolone and loratadine, so that these pupils could receive timely treatment. 

These pupils needed immediate treatment as some of them were showing serious symptoms. Thanks to the teamwork of Chinese and Equatoguinean doctors, these pupils recovered soon,” Chen told ChinAfrica. In Equatorial Guinea, children around 12 and 13 years old are required to receive tetanus vaccines.   

Imparting knowledge 

Chen, 44, is a surgeon at Zhongshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in south China’s Guangdong Province. He was among the 31st Chinese medical team dispatched by China to Equatorial Guinea to provide medical aid. A total of 25 members, including two interpreters, arrived in the country on 13 February 2021 and worked in Bata General Hospital and Regional Hospital of Malabo until August 2022. Chen was head of the Bata team. 

Before leaving for Equatorial Guinea, Chen and his teammates formulated detailed plans for their 20-month work in the country, such as providing voluntary medical services in rural areas, launching trainings of advanced medical technologies to local doctors, and demonstrating traditional Chinese medicine culture.  

Besides their routine work in Bata General Hospital, the Chinese doctors also set up a clinic at the station where they lived, so that nearby people could have timely access to medical services. After finishing their work in the hospital, these Chinese doctors took turns to work in the clinic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic was closed for several months in accordance with local anti-pandemic requirements. But they posted their phone numbers on the door so that local people could contact them when they needed medical treatment. 

Training local medical workers was an important part of our mission, especially on sterile techniques, which are of vital importance for conducting surgeries,” said Chen. According to him, the hospital could not conduct many procedures, such as nerve blocking anaesthesia, epidural anaesthesia and endotracheal intubation in children.  

The lack of medical supplies and training materials is a big problem facing the medical team. In order to demonstrate anaesthesia technology, anaesthesiologist Chen Weitao bought at his own expense a cardiopulmonary resuscitation simulator and medical devices such as cricothyrotomy needles and peripherally inserted central catheter kits, and trained local medical personnel in his spare time. 

When working with local medical workers, I shared my knowledge with them and, at the same time, developed sincere friendship with them. I really appreciate the working experience in Equatorial Guinea,” said Chen Weitao. 

  

Chinese medical team members treat pupils suffering from allergic reactions to tetanus vaccine in Bata General Hospital, Equatorial Guinea, in May 2022

Dealing with emergencies 

Besides performing the scheduled tasks, sometimes the team had to deal with emergencies together with their Equatoguinean counterparts. Less than one month after their arrival, they met with an emergency assistance.  

On 7 March 2021, a series of explosions occurred at an armoury of the Nkuantoma Gendarmerie and military barracks in Bata. As the explosion sites are close to Bata General Hospital, many wounded patients were sent to the hospital. All Chinese medical team members immediately joined their Equatoguinean peers to help the wounded. After more than two hours’ hard work, they treated seven patients and debrided and sutured two others for transferring to other hospitals. 

As the hospital did not have enough medical supplies, at night, Chen and his teammates prepared gauze and surgical instrument and disinfected them for use the next day. They had also brought disposable medical surgical gowns, surgical masks, sterile gauze, sterile gloves, povidone iodine disinfectant and antibiotic, and donated them to the hospital. 

Early the next day, the medical team arrived in the hospital with all the materials and instruments to treat the remaining patients. Chen divided his team into three groups to evaluate the severity, conduct debridement and suturing and binding up wounds. All the work was completed efficiently.  

Their work was recognised by the Equatoguinean people. At noon, Chen’s team received a call from Equatorial Guinea’s Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue, commending them for their efficient work in saving the wounded patients.  

Building friendship 

In 1971, Guangdong Province in south China organised and dispatched its first medical team to Equatorial Guinea. Since then, the programme has continued uninterrupted. So far, a total of 614 medical workers in 32 medical teams have worked in the country. Among them, 304 have been awarded the highest national honour, the Order of Independence, including Chen and his Chinese colleagues. During the past 50 years, medical teams from Guangdong Province have regularly visited Equatorial Guinea without intervals.  

On Qingming Festival on 4 April 2021, a day when Chinese people usually sweep tombs of their deceased family members, Chen led his teammates to He Xianjie’s tomb in a suburban area of Bata City 3 km away from the station of the Chinese medical team, to pay respect to the Chinese ophthalmologist who passed away while working in Bata General Hospital. 

He came to Equatorial Guinea with the sixth Chinese medical team in 1976. On 30 March 1978, just before the end of his two-year term, he died from cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 42. Then President of Equatorial Guinea Francisco Macías Nguema and his wife attended He’s funeral. 

The visiting Chinese medical teams pay homage to him on Qingming Festival every year after he passed away. We will never forget him. His diligence and dedication have been inspiring us successors to earnestly fulfil our missions in Equatorial Guinea,” said Chen, who ended his term and left Equatorial Guinea in August 2022, after the arrival of the 32nd Chinese medical team for the country. 

 

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