Chinese medical aid clocks 15 years

Weekender

By LEAH OMAE
China and Papua New Guinea enjoy very good relationships in the field of medicine and health.
Since 2002, at the request of PNG Government, China has sent eight medical teams comprising 80 consultant doctors and support staff to work mainly at the Port Moresby General Hospital and travel to other centres for consultations as well.
The specialists involved were neurosurgeons, anaesthetists, urologists, radiologists, oncologists, maxillo-facial surgeons, cardiologists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, pathologists, paediatricians and orthopaedic surgeons.
During the past 15 years, the Chinese doctors had worked with the Port Moresby General Hospital and were always ready to share experiences with their PNG colleagues.
According the records, the Chinese medical teams have provided services for nearly 100,000 patients and improved their quality of life.
The team also visited other provinces and provided free medical services to locals. Their good attitude and deeds have won real friendships with Papua New Guineans.
The eighth Chinese medical team arrived in April, 2017 and started working at the Port Moresby General Hospital. The team comprised of cardiologist and team leader Dr Ke Dazhi, urologists Dr Zhao Tao and Dr Xiao Weizhong, neurosurgeon Dr Huang Jingrui, radiologist Dr Huang Xing Tao, anaesthetist Dr Yang Hongjun and surgical nurses Lu Jing and Tang Wanli.
According to the audits of Port Moresby General Hospital and Dr Ke Dazhi’s experience in the Heart Institute of PMGH, 50 per cent of admissions in the hospital are related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Dr Ke said this might have resulted from local people’s lifestyle which involved consuming food rich in sugar, fatty foods, fried foods, chewing of betel nut and smoking.
The changing trend of these diseases such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, mellitus and cerebrovascular accident, need more attention from doctors, common people and government.
A mother asking a Chinese doctor to give a name to her baby girl after a successful operation shows how these doctors have touched the hearts of many Papua New Guinea families.
Lucy Solomon from Wabag in Enga, gave birth to twin girls in May last year but one had a growth at the back of her head that needed an operation.
The condition of her baby troubled Solomon and she feared the worst but consultant neurosurgeon Dr Huang Jingrui came just in time and saved her baby.
Dr Huang led local doctors and nurses and performed a successful surgery that removed the large growth.
After the operation the surgical incision did not heal very well but Dr Huang kept on cleaning the wound and changing dressings for a month and it healed.
Before leaving the hospital Solomon asked Dr Huang to name the baby and he gladly named her Mulan, after the ancient Chinese heroine who took the place of her father to fight against invaders and became a general in the end.
Mulan was a symbol of bravery and strength in the Chinese culture. The medical team was very happy that the name would be a connection between them and Papua New Guinea family.
Andrew Punga also has ample reason to be grateful to the visiting Chinese team. For two years Punga suffered from severe pain when he needed to pass urine.
What is so simple and natural to most of us, was fraught with difficulty and pain for Punga.
On Nov 6, 2017, he found relief at the hands of the Chinese surgeons who operated on his prostate at the Port Moresby General Hospital and gave him back his life.
Punga, from Hela, had an acute blockage in his urinary tract. He was among a group of 30 men who underwent prostate surgeries at the hospital.
The surgeries were performed by consultant urologists Dr Zhao Tao and Dr Xiao Weizhong, surgical nurses Lu Jing and Tan Wanli and anaesthetist Dr Yang Hong jun.
Dr Zhao and Dr Xiao were surprised by the number of prostate problems they saw and the lack of treatment available to them.
Mostly affected were men aged between 60 to 70 years. In Punga’s case the procedure taken was transurethral resection of the prostate or TURP which was a minimal invasive operation.
TURP is used to treat urinary problems due to enlarged prostate. A combined visual and surgical instrument (resect scope) is inserted through the tip of the penis into the tube that carries urine from the bladder (urethra).
The transurethral resection operation is more time-saving, causes minimum bleeding and safer thereby causing patients to suffer less and recover quickly without scarring.
Chinese ambassador, Xue Bing, has signed a three-year urinary endoscopy programme contract with Health Secretary Pascoe Kase on Dec 20, 2017. The programme is to set up an endoscopic minimal invasive treatment centre in urology to improve the open style of surgery in PNG.
Under the agreement, the Chinese government will provide medical equipment valued about K2 million, with technical assistance to establish a urinary endoscopic centre in PMGH.
They will also provide training for local doctors both in-country and in China.
This is in line with the plans of the hospital led by Dr Umesh Gupta in building super specialities, a comprehensive cancer centre, and urology for PMGH to be recognised as a level-seven hospital and leading hospital in the Pacific.
An MRI scan service was launched in Port Moresby General Hospital on March 16, 2017.
Chief radiologist Dr Lenturut has thanked the Chinese consultant radiologist Dr Huang XingTao working in the radiology department of the hospital.
Under the cooperation of the Dr Lenturut and the radiology department Dr Huang has done a lot of work in medical expertise and skills transfer in MRI technology.
He was able to train the radiographers to do MRI scans.
Since 2017, with the cooperation of the Chinese radiologist and local colleagues more than 1000 scans were done.
“In the future, all medical images such as x-ray, CT and MRI would be transmitted between China and PNG by tele-medical technology. These images can be discussed by Chinese and PNG’s radiologists,” Dr Huang Xingtao said.
“Based on them, specialists from both countries would consult to diagnose diseases and work out reports. This would greatly enhance the diagnostic level of PMGH which will benefit local patients a lot.”
The eighth medical team would be leaving the country next month but the exciting news is that the team has donated electronic gastroscopy and electronic colonoscopy instruments on Feb 6, 2018.
Ambassador Xue Bing presented the medical equipment to PMGH CEO Dr Umesh Gupta.
The ambassador also signed the protocol on assignment of the ninth Chinese medical team to arrive in April together with Health Secretary Pascoe Kase.
This extensive cooperation and training partnership programme between the Chinese and PNG governments, via the Department of Health and the Port Moresby General Hospital was hailed a success.
We wish the eighth Chinese medical team a safe journey back home!

  • The author is the Public Relations Officer at Port Moresby General Hospital.