Source: http://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/zwbd_673032/nbhd_673044/t1418375.shtml?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0

Edited by: Liu Nian

From November 21 to 22 in 2016, Guangdong Medical Team led by Yinyan Liu, Deputy Director of Health Department of Guangdong Province, provided free medical services in Samoa for two days.

Picture of some doctors from Guangdong Medical Team, in front of Samoa’s National Medical Center

The team members include Professor Weirong Chen, Deputy Director of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC), Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), other renowned specialists and seven doctors and nurses from ZOC, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and the Third Affiliated Hospital of SYSU.

Professor Weirong Chen, Deputy Director of ZOC, SYSU, is checking the eyes for a Samoan patient

Specialists from Guangdong Medical Team are treating a Samoan patient with cataract

During the medical services, the specialists in the medical team treated Samoan patients for free. In spite of the fatigue from the long journey, they threw themselves into busy medical treatment and surgeries the next day after arrival. With little rest time, they spent two days in performing nearly 20 cataract surgeries, including the first phacoemulsification cataract surgery in Samoa. After these successful surgeries, patients all regained their vision, thanks to which the team still keeps the proud record of no patient observed surgical complication after the cataract surgery in South Pacific islands.

Specialists from Guangdong Medical Team are performing a surgery for a Samoan patient

Additionally, during the services, cardiovascular specialists from the medical team saved a patient with severe heart disease and received sincere gratitude from his family. Rihan Hai, associate chief physician of TCM Acupuncture of the Third Affiliated Hospital, SYSU, cured a Samoan woman with lingering pain of sprain by using traditional Chinese acupuncture. The woman marveled at the excellent medical skills and magic acupuncture treatment so much that she took her relatives to the hospital to seek for Chinese specialists’ treatment the next day.

Picture of Guangdong Medical Team and the Samoan patients receiving cataract surgeries

At that time, Lanzi Wen, Vice-chairman of CPPCC Guangdong Provincial Committee, was visiting Samoa. Xuefeng Wang, Ambassador to Samoa, accompanied her for a special visit to Samoa’s National Medical Center to see the medical team and investigate the free medical services.

Professor Weirong Chen, Deputy Director of ZOC, SYSU, is being interviewed by Samoan media

The arrival of this Chinese medial team has attracted wide attention and enthusiastic responses of local people and media. TV1 Samoa, TV3 Samoa and Radio Polynesia covered the event live. Samoa Observer, the largest English and Samoan bilingual newspaper in Samoa, reported the free medical services offered by Guangdong Medical Team with an article titled “Medical Help from China”. In this article with rich pictures, the media praised the friendship between China and Samoa and offered heartfelt admiration for the excellent medical skills of these Chinese “angels in white” as well as their noble spirit of contribution.

Samoa Observer releases a special report on Guangdong Medical Team’s free medical services in Samoa