YINCHUAN, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- At a health center in Minning Town, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a recent video consultation connected doctors more than 2,000 kilometers apart for real-time medical guidance.
Yao Li, a physician sent from coastal Fujian Province to Ningxia last year under a government-led east-west medical assistance program, was consulting specialists at Fujian's Xiamen Children's Hospital about a seven-month-old baby with epilepsy. After reviewing the infant's medical records and imaging results, they worked out a treatment plan together, sparing the family a long trip for specialist care.
"We were particularly worried about traveling so far with such a young child," one of the parents said. "We didn't expect specialists in Xiamen could help us work out a plan right here."
For Ningxia, reaching patients in remote areas has long been a challenge. To bridge the gap, the region has increasingly turned to digital healthcare. Such service allows patients to undergo examinations at local health centers while specialists at larger hospitals review their results remotely.
In 2018, Ningxia was approved to develop China's first "Internet Plus Healthcare" pilot area. Since then, it has built a remote medical network linking hospitals and health centers across five administrative levels, extending down to townships.
Behind Ningxia's expanding healthcare network lies a long history of medical cooperation. Since 1996, coastal Fujian Province has sent more than 1,500 medical specialists to the region. But Ningxia has not remained merely a recipient of assistance. It has also dispatched its own medical teams overseas, extending medical expertise beyond China's borders.
Ningxia sent its first medical team to Benin on Jan. 8, 1978. Since then, it has dispatched 28 teams to the country, involving more than 660 medical personnel. Together, they have provided over 3 million patient consultations and performed more than 75,000 operations.
Now, Chinese doctors working overseas are increasingly drawing on an approach that has proved effective at home: using technology, including telemedicine, to bring specialist care to patients far from major hospitals.
In March 2019, Chinese doctors in Benin performed the first operation in the history of China's overseas medical aid program with remote video guidance. More than 10 medical specialists from Ningxia provided real-time advice through a video link from over 10,000 kilometers away, spending nearly five hours guiding the surgical team as it removed a large thyroid tumor from a local patient.
A telemedicine platform launched in 2023 allows Chinese medical teams in Benin to consult specialists back in China while providing treatment locally, bringing expertise across borders without requiring patients to travel long distances.
Ma Yan, a traditional Chinese medicine specialist serving in Benin, recently used the system to consult colleagues in Ningxia about a 73-year-old patient whose left side had been weakened by cerebrovascular disease.
Together, they developed a rehabilitation plan combining acupuncture, massage and medication. After more than a month of treatment in Benin, the patient was able to stand and walk.
"We are sharing China's experience in bringing healthcare services closer to communities, passing on medical skills and training local personnel to help strengthen Benin's primary healthcare system," said Chinese Ambassador to Benin Zhang Wei. ■
