HARARE, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) --- A Chinese-Zimbabwean hospital cooperation project has significantly improved the southern African country's pulmonary care capacity, benefiting more than 2,000 local patients since its launch in 2022.
The Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Project between China's Hunan Provincial People's Hospital and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals (PGH), Zimbabwe's largest public tertiary hospital, officially launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, sought to assist PGH in improving its capability for diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 and enhancing its treatment capacity for pulmonary illnesses.
A high dependency unit catering to patients with acute respiratory illnesses was established at PGH under the program, bringing significant relief to local patients in need of critical treatment, said pulmonologist Felix Manyeruke during an interview with Xinhua at PGH in Harare, the country's capital.
The project has significantly contributed to improving respiratory and critical care medicine, enhancing pulmonary and respiratory treatment, and establishing a clinical skills training platform, he noted.
Following the project, which has also provided critical medical equipment and the establishment of a telemedicine center at PGH, the professional skills of the local specialists have been significantly improved, Manyeruke added.
"They provided equipment, they provided training. They have trained us, they have trained our support staff in management of critical conditions like sepsis, hypoxic respiratory failure, hypercapnic respiratory failure," Manyeruke told Xinhua.
"So, it does not only benefit Parirenyatwa, it will also benefit the whole country, because from this center, doctors leave and then they go to the peripheral hospitals, and that knowledge is expanded to that area. The telemedicine unit allows us to continue to support them, because we also sit down and discuss cases with doctors in other hospitals, and it allows us to assist in the care of these patients, particularly respiratory patients who are in the peripheral hospitals," he said.
Since the project started, over 2,000 patients have received specialized treatment, and around 300 local medical staff have received training, said Li Jie, a member of the 22nd batch of the Chinese medical team in Zimbabwe.
Under the program, five specialists have been sent from China to guide Zimbabwean medical staff in clinical operations and provide relevant professional training, she said, adding that medical equipment, including ventilators, was also provided.
Since 1985, China has dispatched 22 medical teams to Zimbabwe, offering sustained support to the country's healthcare sector. ■