Chinese medical team carried out free clinic in Kalinago territory
Chinese medical team carried out free clinic in Kalinago territory
Chinese medical team
Under the organization of the Chinese Embassy, Foreign Affairs Ministry of Dominica and Health Ministry of Dominica, Chinese medical team went to Kalinago territory for a free clinic from October 18th to 20th. The event was warmly welcomed by the local people.
On Friday afternoon, October 18th, chinese medical team drove to Salybia health directly after daily work in Princess Margaret Hospital no matter of heavy rain. It took more than one hour for the team to get to their destination coz of rugged mountain roads. They checked Salybia Health Center location and sounding situation. After that, they settled down at a nearby hotel. Before going to sleep, Captain Dr. Fang organized an double-check of medication and equipment which would be used in free clinic, hosted a brief meeting to arrange free clinic work and precautions.
On the morning of October 19th, Medical team woke up early and drove to destination. Several local people had been there, waiting for Chinese medical team. Team members quickly got to work, arranged the venue, hung up the medical team post and organized the consulting room with the assistance of local health center staff. Miss. Burton, permanent secretary of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Dominica, Wang Quanhuo, head of the Economic and Commercial Office of the People's Republic of China in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Mr. Prosper, Kalinago Cultural Officer, attended the free clinic and made a brief speech before clinic. Mr. Burton introduced the health condition of Kalinago and praised the achievements of China's economic development. She used "amazing" to describe her experience of visiting China, highly appreciated the friendship between China and Dominic, and thanked to the Chinese government for its selfless help to Dominic. Wang Quanhuo summed up the history of friendship between China and Dominic and introduced the progress of China's aid agriculture projects, medical projects and education projects. He wished China and Dominica a lasting friendship. Captain of the medical team, Dr. Fang, introduced the composition of the medical team, purpose of their work in Dominic and the contents of the free clinic. Prosper guided all people there to sing their folk song “Mabrika mabrika” to welcome the Chinese medical team. In the end of the meeting, head of the Economic and Commercial Office handed over medication and equipment donated by medical team to the head of the Salybia Health Center on behalf of Chinese government, and expressed his sincere regards to Kalinago territory.
After the brief opening meeting, local residents gradually came to see the doctor. The clinic included four subjects: cardiovascular medicine, oncology, urology and ophthalmology. The local residents were guided by the health care center staff to associative specialist. The doctors of the medical team conducted corresponding consultations, physical examinations and ophthalmic screenings, prescribed necessary medication or gave further treatment opinions to the patient. Kalinago is in a mountains, rural and remote area which is far from the capital hospital. Many Kalinago people have little chance to get medical examination or treatment timely. During the clinic, there are three residents which were considered of tumor. A 76 years gentleman with a long term urination difficulty history suffered from left hip pain several weeks ago. Obvious hard nodules in peripheral zone of prostate was found by Dr. Fang, urologist after trans-rectum examination. Before leaving, Dr.Fang repeatedly stressed the importance of further examination and treatment. Another old woman had difficulty digestion for nearly two months, accompanied with upper abdominal pain and obvious loss of weight. Doctor Zhen, oncologist, suspected that she had a tumor of the upper digestive tract and advised her to have a gastric endoscopy as soon as possible. A 20-year-old boy had pharyngeal foreign body sensation for several months with hard and fixed lymph node enlargement in the left neck, Doctor Zhen suggested the boy to do lymph node biopsy. The medical team found that cataracts and cardiovascular diseases are very common in Kalinago territory. Dr.Liu, ophthalmologist found that there were three patients suffering from severed cataracts and needed surgery. Dr. Wu, cardiologist, took this opportunity to spread knowledge about prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease to patients.
The activity lasted from 9:00 am to the afternoon. At the end, Kalinago Cultural Officer and health center provided delicious fruit and food to the team and also presented local gifts, expressed their blessings and thanks. The Chinese medical team will continue to uphold the spirit of boundless to protect the sick patients. They will try their best to help Dominican, and contribute to the friendship between China and Dominic.
