Chinese and African leaders came together for the 4th International Roundtable on China-Africa Health Cooperation in Gaborone, Botswana on May 6 and 7, 2013 to explore new forms of partnership between China and Africa in health-related areas. They will also discuss opportunities to increase the impact of their joint efforts.

This year's roundtable is the first to take place on the African continent. Officials will engage in sessions on how China and African countries can work together on critical health issues that affect the African continent, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, schistosomasis, reproductive health and access to vaccines. Officials will also discuss how to enhance China's health assistance to Africa to help achieve long-term, sustainable gains, such as strengthening health systems and addressing the shortage of healthcare workers.

"Health needs partners. Health needs both government and non-government organizations to work together to tackle the problems," said Sasara Chasala George, the Republic of Botswana's Ambassador to China, at a press conference held on April 27, 2013 in Beijing. He said that the HIV/AIDS epidemic acted as a wakeup call for Botswana in the early 1990s, but that with the assistance of partners from both governmental and non-governmental organizations, Botswana has done well in fighting the disease.

"We'd like to see our cooperation with China move from tackling diseases to interaction, research and development, so as to empower and build a strong health care system in Africa," said George. "We also hope that China will assist by transferring high-quality, low-cost medical technologies to further boost the health sector in Africa," he added.

Over the past decade, more and more government departments and organizations have joined China in offering health assistance to Africa, said Dr. Ren Minghui, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at China's National Health and Family Planning Commission. "The areas of cooperation have also been expanded from building hospitals and medical facilities, to providing free medication; from sending medical teams, to training local doctors and conducting joint medical research," he said.

In recent years, China has also engaged in multilateral health initiatives in Africa through international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). China-Africa cooperation in health has also been supported by the international community, said Ren.

For instance, several Chinese experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined the WHO's Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) program and have worked in Namibia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and other countries over the years, according to Dr. Cui Fuqiang, Deputy Director of the CDC's National Immunization Program.

Based on 50 years of Sino-African cooperation in health, Ren said the two sides would work together to draft long-term cooperation plans and explore new forms of partnership. He believes that such cooperation is mutually beneficial, and that China can also learn from the experiences of its African counterparts in the health sector. "In the field of epidemic control and prevention, especially HIV/AIDS, we can learn how some African countries control the disease by using civil society, non-governmental organizations and citizen participation," he stressed.

Professor Li Xiguang, Director of the Institute of Health Communication and Deputy Director of the Comprehensive AIDS Research Center at Tsinghua University, believes that China can share with African countries its experience in solving similar health problems and challenges.

"China plays a unique role in improving global health by sharing health service best practices, providing high-quality, low-cost technology, and advancing global health policy," said Cheng Feng, Vice President of Global Health Strategies.