The thirteenth batch of the Chinese medical team has arrived in South Sudan to conduct a one-year medical mission in general medicine, surgery, and traditional Chinese medicine.
The 16-member team will be deployed at Juba Teaching Hospital, where they will offer outpatient care, surgical operations, traditional medicine treatment, laboratory tests, and image testing.
The team will also conduct outreach services to rural communities and orphanages, delivering free checkups, treatment, medical supplies, and donations of food and other essentials.
Speaking during the welcoming ceremony of the team at the Chinese Embassy in Juba, National Health Minister Sarah Cleto Rial urged the new team to continue to provide excellent medical services, deepen medical exchanges and cooperation with South Sudan.
“To the members of the 13th Chinese medical team, we warmly welcome you to South Sudan. We trust that you will build on the legacy of your predecessors as you begin your mission,” she said. “I encourage you to remain true to your noble calling to serve with compassion, unity, humility, and respect. We are confident in your ability to provide excellent care while ensuring your own safety and well-being.”
The minister lauded the outgoing 12th batch for demonstrating professionalism and selfless dedication to deliver health services to the South Sudanese.
“Allow me to begin by commending the 12th batch of the Chinese medical team for their outstanding services during their mission in South Sudan,” Rial said. “Your dedication, professionalism, and compassion have left a lasting impact on our people. We have seen you have treated countless patients, performed complicated surgeries, and provided high-quality care to those in need.”
For her part, Ms. Huo Ying, Chargé d’Affaires at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan, commended the 12th team for their dedication.
“Over the past years, the 12th team in South Sudan upheld the spirit of the Chinese medical team as tenacious, dedicated, living lives with boundless love. You have been dedicated and responsible, working in close cooperation with the South Sudan colleagues in an environment with relatively limited resources,” she said. “They have overcome numerous difficulties, provided high-quality medical services to the local people, completed numerous medical missions, trained local medical personnel, and made significant contributions to improving local health care standards and safeguarding the health of the people.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Du Changyong, head of the outgoing 12th batch of Chinese medical teams, said they treated several patients and offered a series of theoretical and practical training regularly, which has effectively improved local doctors’ ability to diagnose and treat common infectious diseases.
“Over the past year, we have worked side by side. The Chinese medical team and our colleagues at Juba Teaching Hospital have treated a total of more than 15,000 outpatients, 2,300 inpatients, 192 surgeries, and rescued 170 critically ill patients,” he said. “We have introduced 11 new technical methods over the past year.”
For his part, Zhang Erqing, head of the incoming 13th batch of Chinese medical team, vowed to provide effective medical assistance to local patients and build a bridge of friendship between China and South Sudan.
“We will continuously offer medical service to local people and look forward to widening and deepening cooperation in health fields in China and South Sudan, strengthening the friendship between the two people,” he said. “Finally, I would like to share a Chinese proverb, which says that ‘the journey may be long, but with perseverance, one will arrive.’ The task may be difficult, but with effort, it will be accomplished. I do believe that South Sudan’s medical care and health service will continue to make progress with a shared effort.”
Chinese doctors have been treating patients and also training local doctors over the years since the independence of South Sudan in 2011. The first batch of the Chinese medical team arrived in South Sudan in 2012.
The Chinese medical teams have set up an electronic gastroscopy department and a cervical screening center in Juba Teaching Hospital, and also supported four batches of 33 South Sudanese medical staff in studying and training in China.