Guyanese President meets with 19th China Medical Team

The 19th China (Jiangsu) Medical Team met with President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali on August 20 in Georgetown. Chinese Embassy's Ad Interim Charge d'Affaires, Huang Rui, together with Counsellor Li Hanqing, were present.

President Ali acknowledged their exceptional work and expressed his profound gratitude for their contribution to the medical and health collaboration between China and Guyana.

September 2023 saw the arrival of the 19th China Medical Team in Guyana, taking the place of the 18th team and starting their mission here.

At the Georgetown public Hospital and Linden Hospital, the 14 medical specialists of the 19th Chinese medical team worked closely with their counterparts in Guyana's healthcare system, providing care for close to 13,000 patients as well as almost 2,000 procedures and surgical advice.

Over 3,400 people also benefited from the team's 14 free medical outreaches, which they planned during their downtime. These outreaches provided medical care to Amerindian communities.

The China Medical Team additionally provided cervical cancer screening tools and worked with the Guyanese government to start the Guyana Cervical Cancer Screening Project in response to the Ministry of Health's request.

The first China Medical Team arrived in Guyana on July 30, 1993. They were received by then-Health Minister Gail Teixeira and the late former President of Guyana Dr. Cheddi Jagan. With this, China's first medical cooperation project with a Latin American government got underway.

Since then, the Chinese government has dispatched 279 experts and 19 medical teams to Guyana in the last 31 years. In terms of clinical medical cooperation and exchanges, medical education and training, public health, and other areas, both parties have achieved notable advancements.