Chinese doctors win hearts with dedication in Tanzania’s Zanzibar

Published: October 26,2023

Members of the 33rd batch of the Chinese medical team pose for a photo with local children after providing free medical services in Zanzibar, Tanzania, on Oct. 21, 2023. (China Medical Team/Handout via Xinhua)

The names of Chinese doctors working with the 33rd batch of the Chinese medical team in Tanzania’s Zanzibar are leaving an indelible mark on the twin islands of Unguja and Pemba by performing complicated surgeries and saving lives of hundreds of patients.

With limited medical resources, the Chinese doctors, all from East China’s Jiangsu Province, are bringing broad smiles to local patients who are desperate for a decent life.

In the early morning of Oct. 11, Gao Lingling, a gynecologist, received a distress call from a local gynecologist on duty at the Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Unguja, informing her that a patient who had undergone an abdominal hysterectomy five days earlier suddenly had a full-layer abdominal incision with an exposed bowel.

Gao rushed to the hospital’s gynecological ward, where she examined the patient and found that the abdominal incision of the patient was infected, purulent and split while her small intestine was exposed and swelling.

In preparation for the emergency surgery, the local doctor on duty informed Gao that the patient was also infected with HIV. Together with Jiang Guoqing, the leader of the Chinese medical team and a general surgery expert, they completed the operation.

Jiang continued to help complete the operation on the HIV-infected patient, even though he had a bruised finger on his right hand from cleaning the medical team’s residence some time ago. It was the first time Gao and Jiang had operated on an HIV-infected patient.

Faced with numerous patients, complex disease types, and a serious lack of equipment and drugs, members of the Chinese medical team are making full use of the existing conditions to develop feasible and effective surgical plans so that a variety of operations can be carried out smoothly, relieving nearly 100 patients suffering from various ailments in about a month since their arrival in September.

Wei Changqun is the only doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on the team, and his arrival also makes the local people feel the charm of TCM. Wei undertakes daily outpatient work in the acupuncture department, mainly treating neck, shoulder, waist, and leg pain, sequelae of stroke, and other diseases with acupuncture. At present, the outpatient department of acupuncture and moxibustion is still relatively busy, with a daily outpatient number of more than 40

Li Guang, deputy leader of the medical team, said he found that there were a lot of thyroid patients coming to the clinic, which may have a lot to do with the local eating habits. Li, along with his colleagues, has successfully completed a thyroid surgery recently.

“The patient recovered well without any complications. He was grateful to be able to complete the surgery on his doorstep. Local doctors were amazed at Li’s skills,” said a nursing officer at the Abdalla Mzee Hospital on Pemba Island.

On Oct. 4, Wu Wei, another doctor, completed the first laparoscopic partial hepatectomy surgery.

The patient, a 60-year-old woman, was found to have a huge cyst in the liver. Wu said surgery was the only way to cure the disease, but the Abdalla Mzee Hospital had never received related cases before. With solid and exquisite clinical surgical skills, the team completed the operation. The patient recovered well after surgery and was discharged successfully a week later.

Raya, the daughter of the patient, expressed her great gratitude to Wu, thanking the Chinese doctors for using minimally invasive technology to relieve her mother’s pain for many years.

“With the unremitting efforts of the successive members of the Chinese medical teams, it will bring health and happiness to more and more local people, and further promote the progress and development of medical services in Zanzibar,” said Raya, who is also a pediatrician at the Abdalla Mzee Hospital.