On With the Mission

If one has to name the fields of China-africa cooperation with the longest history and best outcomes, healthcare cooperation would definitely be one of them. It is also the area of cooperation that speaks most about the bonds of humanity between China and African countries, especially in the face of disasters and pandemics like the current scourge of COVID-19.

From African countries supporting China’s fight against the coronavirus after the pandemic hit China to China assisting African countries when it had basically brought the virus within its borders under control, cooperation in the healthcare sector continues to move forward and has set an example for international solidarity.

Since China sent its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, teams of Chinese medical workers have been active in various African countries, with some even sacrificing their lives during the completion of their mission. When the global COVID-19 pandemic hit the continent, Chinese medical workers in African countries immediately joined their African counterparts in the battle against the disease. While some new Chinese medical teams came to Africa to help, many teams that had already ended their terms there chose to extend their stay, continuing to contribute to the ANTI-COVID-19 campaign on the continent.

In the past 57 years, China has dispatched medical teams to nearly 50 African countries, treating more than 200 million patients. In addition, China has built anti-malaria centers for some African countries and launched various cooperation programs in the healthcare sector.

In 2014 when the deadly Ebola virus swept across West Africa, despite many foreigners flying out of these countries, Chinese medical teams flew in to provide assistance. In addition, China dispatched chartered aircraft to bring in relief supplies to these countries, playing a positive role in their fight against Ebola.

In the process of assisting African countries in fighting various diseases and epidemics, Chinese medical personnel can, in return, gain valuable practice and accumulate experience in fighting pandemics. The benefit can be seen in China’s efforts against COVID-19 early this year. Of the tens of thousands of doctors who gathered in central China’s Hubei Province to fight the epidemic, many were members of medical teams with experience of working in African countries, including those who had helped out in West African countries fighting the Ebola disease.

The China-africa solidarity in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic has indicated new orientations and paths for China-africa cooperation in healthcare sector in the future. While delivering a keynote speech at the Extraordinary China-africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19 on June 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that China will work with Africa to speed up the construction of Chinaafrica Friendship Hospitals and the cooperation between paired-up Chinese and African hospitals. He also pledged that once the development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccine is completed in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit. CA