WHO Certification

The World Health Organization (WHO) granted its highest certification level to a Chinese international emergency medical team (EMT) on May 25, making China the country with the most WHO-certified EMTs.

During the 71st World Health Assembly in Geneva, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hosted a certification ceremony for the China International Emergency Medical Team (Sichuan) at the UN office.

The team is a partnership of several hospitals from China’s southwest Sichuan Province with 166 professionals, including 41 doctors and 65 nurses. It’s the first Chinese medical team to be verified as Type 3, the highest level in the WHO EMTs Initiative, capable of treating 200 outpatients and performing 15 major surgical procedures and 30 minor surgical procedures per day.

At the ceremony, Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he plans to expand WHO EMTs to include about 50,000 medical professionals in the next few years and expects even more support from China.

The team from Sichuan is the third Chinese EMT to be certified by the WHO. In 2016 and 2017, respectively, two EMTs from China’s Shanghai and Guangdong Province were granted the certification, making China the only country that has contributed three teams to the initiative which consists of 15 teams to date.

The WHO EMTs project was launched in July 2015 to qualityassure and peer-review global teams in light of past shortcomings where medical personnel self-responded without necessarily having the right skill-set, training, supplies or equipment. It aims to help countries affected by disasters, outbreaks