Doctors set a healthy example of co-op with Guyana

More than 100 Chinese doctors have been sent to Guyana since the two countries signed a cooperation agreement in 1992.

The 10th panel of experts, consisting of 15 top doctors from East China's Jiangsu province, are now aiding doctors and providing medical services to the Guyanese people, according to the provincial health department.

As the first medical cooperation agreement signed and carried out between China and South American countries, it is highly valued by the Jiangsu provincial government, the health department said.

The 15 doctors, of whom eight hold doctorates, specialize in several departments, including gynecology, endocrinology and radiology. Some have practiced medicine for more than 20 years.

All the members of the panel received language and culture training for six months, and were vaccinated against various diseases, including cholera and yellow fever.

Zhao Wenxing, head of the ninth expert panel and deputy director of the medical service department of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, stayed in Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana, from 2010 to 2012.

He said that Chinese doctors overcame problems to provide excellent service to the Guyanese people.

"The medical equipment in Guyana is as good as those in small towns in China," Zhao said.

The ninth panel of experts treated 45,000 patients during two years in Guyana, and carried out about 5,000 operations.

Of these, 31 had never been carried out in the country before.

"The Chinese doctors also needed to adapt to local food," said Zhao. "Due to the relatively shorter period of growing, the rice in Guyana tastes less sweet than the Chinese rice, and the price of vegetables is triple the price in China."

Tomato, onions and pumpkin are the most common vegetables.

"The most important task of the Chinese medical panel is to help Guyana to train medical workers," said Xu Kailin, head of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College.

"Introducing advanced equipment and excellent technique is helpful, but helping the country to train its own medical workers is more beneficial."

During his meeting on Sunday with leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, Dominica, Barbados, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda, all of which are Caribbean countries with diplomatic ties with Beijing, President Xi Jinping pledged to scale up assistance to Caribbean nations in an effort to give fresh impetus to the cooperation between China and the region.

The moves include sending 100 medical staff to the Caribbean in three years.