Chinese medical team helps Ghanaian hospital improve laparoscopic surgery

ACCRA -- The Chinese medical team in Ghana said Monday that they have achieved big progress in helping a local hospital improve its capacity of performing laparoscopic surgeries.

LEKMA hospital, where the team is based, has long been unable to carry out laparoscopic surgeries due to a shortage of the latest equipment and relevant experience, said Yu Dongnan, chief of the team.

"We are fully aware that laparoscopic surgery is very important to increase the cure rate, so in this case, we have to reassemble the old equipment in stock to deal with some emergent surgeries," Yu told Xinhua.

The team's first laparoscopic surgery was met with bumps. The doctors realized that they were not able to obtain a clear screen vision during the process, but the experienced Chinese doctors finally overcome the difficulties and finished the surgery using six hours.

Together with their Ghanaian counterparts, the team gradually fixed these problems. In late June, the team involved more Ghanaian medical staff in its third laparoscopic surgery for a local patient, which turned out to be a success.

"It showed that our collaboration has moved a step forward," Yu said, adding that the team plans to introduce more laparoscopic surgeries in the hospital and involve more Ghanaian counterparts.

Over the years, China has dispatched 11 medical teams to Ghana, which significantly helped boost its health sector.