The eighth batch of photographs of members of the Chinese military medical expert group provided by the Chinese military medical expert group

Yang Ning looked for malaria parasites under a microscope. The picture is provided by China's military medical expert group assisting Serbia

During the free clinic in Sokoya Village, Feng Hui (center) took a group photo with local teenagers. Map provided by China's military medical expert group on aid to Serbia

During the Freetown medical event, Liu Hyun (right) conducted an examination for local patients.

During the training of the China-Serbia Joint Medical Education Empowerment Project, Shi Lei taught local students. The picture shows our reporter Zheng Xiang

Freetown City View. image for this newspaper reporter Zhang Zhang

Sierra Leone, located in western Africa, is one of the least developed countries in the world. In this red land, disease places a heavy burden on people. Since 2016, the People's Liberation Army of China has sent multiple teams of military medical experts across thousands of miles to provide medical and health services in relay, treating more than 11,300 patients in total. "The military medical team has made outstanding contributions to our medical and health undertakings." Sierra Leone President Bio said,"Sierra Leone-China medical and health cooperation has witnessed the establishment and development of the traditional friendship between the two countries and will continue to promote people-to-people bonds and win-win cooperation between the two countries in the future."

"From fighting Ebola to fighting monkeypox, we have always chosen to face the challenge."

In January this year, a monkeypox outbreak occurred in Sierra Leone. In order to strongly support Serbia's response to the epidemic, the Military Attache's Office of the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone suggested that the military medical team leave for Serbia in advance for support. After the approval of the domestic competent authorities, team leader Mi Zhiqiang led the eighth batch of military medical expert teams to help Sierra Leone, overcame various difficulties, and quickly devoted himself to the front line of patient treatment, virus detection and epidemic prevention and control.

Peter is in the dry season, the temperature in Sierra Leone is high, the outbreak spreads rapidly, there are hundreds of new cases every day. The Syrian government announced a state of emergency in public health, and the streets are marked with anti-pneumonia signs. In the military medical group in the 34th military hospital in Sierra Leone, there are many infected elderly and children. The military medical group immediately started work, from setting up cleaning zones, polluted areas, potential polluted areas, setting up medical personnel passages, patient passages, to planning a one-way flow route, improve the pre-testing department diagnosis process, and help the hospital build a scientific standard prevention system.

When the epidemic was severe, the Secretary of the Military Medical Group Party Branch and several members of the group almost jointly shifted the pressure to the highest, the patient team ran from the clinic department to the hospital door. The military medical group was divided into two groups, one group in the clinic to receive patients with mild disease, the other group to stay in the hospital, responsible for the diagnosis of patients with severe disease. " - Stephen Sevari, Director of Medicine of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Director of the 34th Military Hospital.

The treatment of monkeypox patients mainly depends on symptomatic supportive treatment and meticulous care. The military medical group introduced functional genomics technology for the first time, and formulated individualized treatment plans by analyzing the differences of patients' genes and immune responses. Kabbah, chief medical officer of the Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone, praised: "This new technology has improved the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment and played an important role in preventing the spread of the epidemic."

At the peak of the epidemic, the military medical team received more than 100 visits per day, a total of 1330 visits, and 81 serious patients were treated.

Today, in the corner of the 34th Military Hospital, several retired mobile biosafety level III experimental vehicles are parked quietly, and the words "China Health" on the bodies are clearly visible. This is an experimental vehicle aided by China during the local Ebola outbreak in 2014, and has performed numerous tasks. Serbia insists on keeping them, because they are not only medical equipment, but also a witness of the friendship between the two countries.

Mi Zhiqiang often tells new colleagues here about the first time he came to Sierra Leone to fight the Ebola epidemic. "No one is not afraid of Ebola, but a sense of mission can overcome fear. From fighting Ebola to fighting monkeypox, we always choose to face challenges head-on-face to face difficulties, which is the glorious tradition of the military medical team." Mi Zhiqiang said.

"No matter how difficult the conditions are, you can't give up patients."

From the capital, Freetown, the military medical team of experts went to the village of Sokoya to conduct medical examinations. Since March this year, they have been conducting medical examinations every month around the capital.

The village of Sokoya, located in the mountains of northern Sierra Leone, is a remote, original village. The 300-kilometer journey from Freetown to the village takes more than eight hours: first by boat 50 minutes to the port of Pepper in the west of Sierra Leone, then by a six-hour narrow-track train carrying iron ore to the north, and finally by cross-coaster along the rubble red-earth road.

After arrival, the medical staff quickly set up a simple clinic desk, and the villagers who received the notice in advance were already waiting at the entrance of the village. Feng Hui, a doctor of the military medical group, is responsible for ultrasound examination for the villagers. The children in the village lined up and craned their necks to explore the examination process. "This is the first time since I came to Sierra Leone that I have checked so many people in one day." Feng Hui said. "Although it is very tiring, it feels worth it."

On the same day, the military medical team provided free consultation, prescription and health advice for about 120 villagers.After the treatment, the local emir held the hands of the medical staff and said: ¡°The arrival of the Chinese doctor is a gift from God.¡±

Sierra Leone has weak local infrastructure, backward sanitary conditions and scarce medical resources. Take Freetown's two main hospitals, the 34th Military Hospital and Connat Hospital, as an example. Both hospitals lack medical rescue equipment, not even a dialysis machine.

The military medical team tried to use the available resources to work.In one clinical treatment, a high fever patient urgently needed regular blood examination, but the hospital blood analyser suddenly failed and could not be used.The military medical team members Yang Ning, Xiung Woo observed the blood paint under the microscope, and could not give up the patient under harsh conditions," Yang Ning said.

The 34th Army Hospital nurse, Kamala, is 28 weeks pregnant.She told reporters that her first pregnancy check was done with the help of the military medical team.I had never seen an ultrasound machine before, the probe slipped over my belly and could still see the fetus in the abdomen, it felt very wonderful.

The mother of Edel, a young student in Freetown, had been coughing continuously for a month, and later gradually developed chest pain multiple times a day. She was treated in many local hospitals, but the cause was not clear. Members of the military medical team Liu Hongling and Li Rong conducted a detailed examination on her and confirmed that she had a serious lung infection. They formulated a long-term treatment plan for her, and prescribed drugs specially brought from China. After treatment, Edel's mother's condition was significantly relieved within a few days and has now basically recovered.

¡°This knowledge will accompany us throughout our lives and benefit countless patients.¡±

Marconi is a small town about 200 kilometers from Freetown. During the heavy rainy season, traffic is extremely difficult, but Dr. Issa Tolly travels between Marconi and Freetown every few days.

Tory just graduated from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Naval Medical University last year and is currently working at a hospital in Makne. In May this year, the joint medical education empowerment program was officially launched, this was the first time that the two armies of China and Syria conducted systematic medical training in the country, and the national medical staff can be registered to participate, and students can participate both remotely and concentrate in the capital.

Due to the shortage of medical staff in Makeni, Tolly needs to return to his original post every few days to handle clinical work. Although he was tired, he was full of enthusiasm. "Under the guidance of the military medical team, I participated in systematic training on the prevention and treatment of common diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis and malaria. The training was very professional and strict." He said, "This knowledge will accompany us all our lives and benefit countless patients."

Sierra Leone doctors are enthusiastically registered, but the military medical team has limited experts. "We try our best to absorb more trainees, carefully design the training content, and do our best to make the training effective." Shi Lei introduced that the military medical team invited Wang Fusheng, an internationally renowned expert in the field of infectious diseases and academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, as the chief expert, and set up a professional team of 25 people. Experts from home and abroad collaborated remotely to jointly set up training programs for Sierra Leone's needs. The military medical team also specially compiled five textbooks and presented them to Sierra Leone.

The Serbian Defence Chief of Staff, Bangoula, said: ¡°The training program provides equal opportunities for medical personnel across Sierra Leone and helps us develop the local medical force. In this process, medical personnel from both countries learn from each other, exchange experiences, and enhance friendship and understanding. We hope that this kind of medical cooperation will continue and benefit more ordinary people.¡±

Training objects include not only Serbian military medical officials, but also local hospital medical staff. The classroom is always seated, students coming from all over the world or hot discussions, or detailed records.

With the help of the military medical team, the transformation of the 34th Army Hospital is also steadily advancing. The military medical team not only donated advanced equipment, but also assisted in the development of electronic medical records systems, and provided professional advice on the spatial layout of the hospital, the setting of clinical rooms, the construction of care units, and the improvement of the ability to cure severe illnesses. Stephen Sevari said: ¡°The military medical team not only brought equipment, but also helped us to establish a long-term development system, forming our own ¡®immunity system¡¯ and ¡®bloodmaking ability¡¯.¡±

Wang Qing, China's ambassador to Sierra Leone, said that China and Sierra Leone are friends who share weal and woe. Over the years, the military medical team has played a bridge role in promoting friendly cooperation between the two countries and promoting people-to-people bonds. China and Serbia have joined hands to develop medical and health undertakings, which has become a vivid practice in building a human health community on the African continent.