A member of the Chinese Medical Team in Malawi cheered up a child patient at the paediatric ward of the Mzuzu Central Hospital in Mzuzu, Malawi, on June 1, 2022. (Chinese Medical Team in Malawi/Handout via Xinhua)
Members of the Chinese Medical Team in Malawi working as specialist doctors at the northern referral hospital of Mzuzu are filling the gaps in paediatric health care at the hospital. They have wished children patients the soonest recovery in celebrating International Children's Day.
MZUZU, Malawi, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Eight members from the Chinese Medical Team (CMT) working at Malawi's northern referral hospital of Mzuzu have celebrated International Children's Day by cheering up children at the health facility's paediatrics ward.
The members, together with the local medical staff at Mzuzu Central Hospital, celebrated the day in the morning earlier this week after making ward rounds in the paediatrics.
A brief write-up on the event that the team shared with Xinhua described June 1 every year as the day that "reminds us to take good care of children".
"We wish all children a happy Children's Day; we wish them the soonest recovery, and that they stay far from diseases and grow up healthily," the write-up quoted the CMT doctor in charge, Wendy Ren, as saying during the celebrations.
"Doctors have no borders; love has no boundaries. Let's always be together and walk step by step along the way to fight for people's health," said the event's write-up.
The members of the Chinese Medical Team in Malawi posed with some children at the entrance of the paediatric ward of the Mzuzu Central Hospital in Mzuzu, Malawi, on June 1, 2022. (Chinese Medical Team in Malawi/Handout via Xinhua)
Mzuzu Central Hospital has since hailed the CMT members for the gesture, saying it "attests to the good working relationship that is there between the Chinese team and the Malawian team".
A medical officer in the paediatric department, Mphatso Mpando, told Xinhua that the hospital lacks specialist doctors and that the CMT fills the gap.
"In paediatrics, we only have one specialist to cater for all the children that are referred to our facility from the whole Northern region.
"The Chinese medical team helps us in this regard by providing specialists that fill in the gaps in our health system," Mpando said.
According to the medical officer, the CMT is involved in diagnosing medical and surgical conditions, follow-up of patients and teaching.
Currently, a team of 17 Chinese medical personnel is working in Malawi's health facilities, including the country's main referral hospital for the central region, Kamuzu Central Hospital, situated in the capital, Lilongwe.
Other than offering technical services, the CMT has been supporting Malawi's health sector with various medical equipment including personal protective equipment (PEP) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. ■
