CIDCA chairman addresses commemoration of 60th anniversary of China dispatching first intl medical aid team

On Dec 29, 2023, the commemoration and commendation conference marking the 60th anniversary of China dispatching its first international medical aid team was held in Beijing. Luo Zhaohui, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), attended the event and delivered a speech titled "Jointly building a global community of health for all with good deeds and boundless love".

In his speech, Luo said that over the past 60 years, Chinese medical teams have traveled to 76 countries and regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, conducting 300 million treatments. China's medical assistance to foreign countries has become the world's longest lasting humanitarian action with the most extensive impact, establishing itself as a "golden brand" of the country's foreign assistance.

Stressing that medical health has always been an important part of China's foreign assistance, Luo elaborated on China's scoring sheet in this area.

China has led global anti-COVID cooperation by carrying out the largest and longest-lasting emergency humanitarian relief since the founding of the country. Over the past three years, China has provided large quantities of anti-pandemic supplies to more than 160 countries and international and regional organizations, provided more than 2.3 billion doses of vaccines to over 110 countries and international and regional organizations, and sent medical expert teams to 34 countries.

China has built "small yet smart" medical aid brands, such as Brightness Campaign, Mobile Hospitals, and the Artemisinin Initiative, which have been widely applauded. In sub-Sahara Africa alone, nearly 240 million people have benefited from artemisinin combination therapy.

China has promoted the capacity building for the sustainable development of public health. For instance, China has assisted in building the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and built over 50 medical infrastructure projects in such countries as the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and Kyrgyzstan. China has established dedicated cooperative relations with 48 hospitals in 43 countries and regions to help recipient hospitals improve their medical service capacity through remote communication, remote consultation, the dispatch of experts and donation of medical supplies. In recent years, China has also arranged more than 1,000 medical training workshops, providing strong support for Africa's response to malaria and schistosomiasis.

Looking ahead, the CIDCA will strengthen cooperation with departments such as the National Health Commission (NHC) to make China's "golden brand" of medical assistance more prestigious and dazzling, he said.

Specifically, the CIDCA will continue to support building the brand of China’s international medical aid teams. In addition to exporting medical resources, it will also strengthen the training of local medical personnel, select outstanding talents from recipient countries for further education and training in China, and help recipient countries and regions build their own medical treatment and disease prevention and control systems.

The agency will jointly safeguard the reputation of China's international medical aid teams by selecting the best of the best medical workers and individuals with expertise, love and noble medical ethics to join the cause, and by addressing the concerns of China's medical workers abroad.

It will actively carry out multilateral cooperation in the health sector and advocate a global community of health for all in the multilateral arena. And it will continue to boost the implementation of the China-proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI).

Co-hosted by the NHC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the conference commended 30 units and 60 individuals nationwide for their outstanding international medical aid performance.