African medical workers to study in Changsha

Four African medical workers from China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital are currently on their way to China for a 90-day systematic study at the People's Hospital of Hunan Province. 

Li Jindong, captain of the Chinese medical aid team in Sierra Leone, said that the four African medical workers were admitted on merit through a series of investigations and selections. The four candidates, Anthony, Valentina, Aminata, and Huang Xiaolong, will learn about cesarean sections, umbilication after delivery, the nursing of common diseases in women and children, and imaging techniques for women and children. 

It will be the second time that Huang Xiaolong, a medical worker with a Chinese name, has studied in Hunan province. He said that he would work hard to enhance his skills to help people in his country.

After warfare, an outbreak of Ebola, and a regime change, Sierra Leone lacks medical resources, with fewer than 200 registered physicians nationwide. The mortality rate among children is extremely high in West and Central Africa, with one in every 16 infants dying within one month. About 16.1 percent of children die before the age of 5, the highest rate in the world. The newborn mortality rate is 33.2 percent. Moreover, postpartum hemorrhaging, infection, gestational hypertension, and dystocia lead to 80 percent of maternal deaths. 

Most deaths could be avoided with skilled care and proper technology during childbirth. With the aim of strengthening the African health system, improving the health of women and children, and reducing the mortality rate of newborn babies, the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital implemented the "maternal and child health care" project to help train medical workers in Sierra Leone.

President of the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital kanu expressed great appreciation to China for providing training and learning opportunities for the four medical workers of the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Hospital, as well as China’s support in the public health sector.