Text: | Print|

Providing support for 'the roof of the world'

2014-07-18 08:57 China Daily Web Editor: Wang Fan
1
Doctor Song Zheng checks a newborn at the Lhasa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. HU YONGQI/ CHINA DAILY

Doctor Song Zheng checks a newborn at the Lhasa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital. HU YONGQI/ CHINA DAILY

An aid program to help the people of the Tibet autonomous region has seen doctors from Beijing and Jiangsu province making a contribution to treating local people and training medical staff.

In the early hours of a Sunday in June, Li Hongxia was woken by a phone call from the Todlung Deqen People's Hospital in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet autonomous region. Li jumped out bed, grabbed her coat and rushed to a delivery room to help a woman experiencing a difficult birth.

Although the prenatal examinations had shown no abnormalities, Tsongrig, the expectant mother, began to bleed heavily before delivery. The doctors treating her followed standard procedures because the 25-year-old Tibetan hadn't told them that she'd experienced the same problem when giving birth to her first baby.

None of the doctors on the night shift knew how to operate the ultrasound machine that would provide essential information, but when Li stepped into the delivery room just five minutes after she was phoned, the Beijing-based obstetrician immediately prescribed uterotonics, drugs that induce contractions and labor while reducing postpartum hemorrhaging.

"The patient was very nervous and refused to undergo a further examination when I got there. The key was to console her and keep her at ease. I caressed her hair, which was soaked with sweat, and smiled at her. I told her that I've treated cases like hers thousands of times in my 14-year career and that everything would be OK," Li said.

Tsongrig grew calmer and began to cooperate with the doctors and nurses. About an hour later, the baby was born safely and Tsongrig's husband burst into tears.

The case was just one of many Li has handled during her first year in Lhasa as part of the government-sponsored Aid to Tibet program. She's one of 413 professionals in various fields sent by the Beijing Municipal Government to provide a helping hand on the plateau, and divides her time between providing medical services and training the local doctors and nurses.

The program was started in 1994 after former president Jiang Zemin visited Lhasa. Jiang ordered that China's inland regions should provide assistance to the region, which was short of professionals in fields such as medical services, education, infrastructure construction and tourism management. Over the past 20 years, more than 6,000 officials and thousands of professionals have taken part in the program.

By the end of 2013, 18 provinces and municipalities, 70 central government ministries and departments, and 17 State-owned enterprises had carried out 7,615 projects across Tibet, at a cost of 26 billion yuan ($4.2 billion), according to The Tibet Daily.

Since 1994, the economy of Tibet has registered average annual growth of 12.7 percent, an improvement many observers attribute in part to the aid program. By 2010, Tibet had received 300 billion yuan from the central government, accounting for 93 percent of its budget, according to the regional finance department. By 2013, the region's GDP had soared 14-fold to 80 billion yuan.

However, experts on Tibet's economy say the economic and social developments will ultimately depend on the locals mastering the necessary technologies and management skills.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.