More hands-on training for local doctors as China renews friendship commitment, donates equipment
Guyana and China have agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in a fashion that will see local doctors benefiting from more hands-on training from Chinese medical specialists, most of whom are part of the annual Chinese Medical Brigade.
On Friday, a new batch of 16 persons were installed at a ceremony that also commemorated the signing of a Friendship Hospitals Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the signing of the agreement for the Specialist Training Programme.
A number of medical equipment were also handed over to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The GPHC and Yang Zhou-Subei People’s Hospital located in Jiangsu Province, first signed a friendship agreement in 2015.
Members of the Medical Brigade will be posted to the GPHC and Linden Hospital Complex as has been the practice over the last 30 years with the first brigade arriving in Guyana in 1993.
Since then, the number of Chinese medical volunteers has grown and is now double the amount sent to Guyana in 2022.
During the ceremony held at the GPHC’s Resource Centre on Friday, the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan said she was happy to elevate the cooperation with Guyana in this regard.
She is optimistic about the continuous training of Guyanese doctors and noted that from a total of 12 Guyanese selected for scholarships in China this year, eight are studying medicine.
Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, said the Guyana Government was extremely grateful for the ramped-up cooperation which comes in the same year Guyana and China are observing 50 years of diplomatic relations.
“They did a lot of surgeries and teach local counterparts how to do these surgeries.
“Over the last two years local doctors made headlines because of the successful completion of complex surgeries but this could not be possible without the assistance of the Chinese,” Dr. Anthony said.
He is happy that the training opportunities will extend beyond GPHC and the Linden Hospital Complex under this new programme.
