CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- "The Chinese medical team has been providing humanitarian medical services to Papua New Guinea for 16 years," said Chinese President Xi Jinping during his first state visit to the country in November 2018.

The Chinese medical team is from Chongqing. Entrusted by the central government, Chongqing has been sending Chinese Medical Aid Team to Papua New Guinea independently since 2002.

For the one-year anniversary of Xi's visit to PNG, Chongqing sends the tenth medical aid team to PNG, the medical exchange and cooperation between China and the South Pacific Region is also into the tenth time cycle, CQNEWS and Post Courier, the mainstream media of PNG, jointly launched a special report, "CQ Doctors' Foreign Aid Diaries".

What happened in the medical team? Let’s take a look at their foreign aid diaries.

A group photo of the seventh Chinese medical team to Papua New Guinea (Picture provided by the interviewee)

"Although it was hard in PNG, we gained a lot from it." On November 9, Dr. Zhang Jinsong took a break at his office in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and then recalled his experience of providing medical aid in Papua New Guinea to CQNEWS.

In 2002, as the member of the first Chinese medical aid team to PNG, Zhang and other nine doctors arrived at Port Moresby General Hospital. The medical team was organized independently by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government, and would stay at the hospital for two years.

"I still think of the shock we had when we first arrived in PNG," said Zhang. PNG has a high incidence of oral cancer, but there was no oral surgeon. The infrastructure for stomatology here was almost none. The only dental professional they had was Dr. Apaio who was still earning his master degree in oral surgery.

A week later, Zhang set a goal for himself: to establish the Department of Stomatology at Port Moresby General Hospital, train local oral surgeons, and leave a team specialized in oral medication for the locals.

"When I just got there, Dr. Apaio said to me, 'you can count on me from now on.' ” Even though Dr. Apaio didn't trust Zhang at the moment, Zhang believed this situation would change very soon, because surgeons always believe that “skills tell the truth”.

Soon, a 19-year-old female patient came in. The patient had suffered from facial asymmetry for 15 years, and several traction treatments didn’t work on her. Zhang not only provided her conventional treatment, but also patiently offered her psychological counseling, helping her to ease the mental burden over the years. She is able to regain confidence gradually.

Later, under the leadership of Zhang, the department successfully completed the first radical operation for an oral cancer patient in PNG. "Right after finishing the operation, Apaio said, 'I will count on you from now on.'"

Zhang Jinsong is treating a local patient. (Picture provided by the interviewee)

As a result, Zhang began to teach Apaio regarding oral surgery systematically. "From oral anatomy to systematic theories, diagnosis, and doctor-checking, I taught him everything," Zhang said. Two years later, by the time Zhang returned from PNG, the oral maxillofacial surgery team at Port Moresby General Hospital has taken shape.

With the help of Zhang, Apaio graduated with the master degree and became the first oral surgeon of PNG.

In 2015, Zhang was assigned to join the medical aid in PNG for the second time. Because of the experience before, Zhang was named the captain of the seventh Chinese medical team to PNG.

"It was not easy for me, for all kinds of critical conditions in PNG and teammates having difficulties in adapting, so I was under a lot of pressure unprecedentedly," Zhang said, "the most unexpected is dengue viruses, which used to be far away from us in China but were hidden closely around us here. "

Zhang Jinsong is treating a local patient. (Picture provided by the interviewee)

PNG is the epidemic area of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, dengue fever and typhoid. Different types of dengue virus cross spread, resulting in surprisingly high morbidity of dengue fever in PNG.

Although the medical team took a lot of preventive measure, they still got caught by the disease. On May 6, 2016, He Shengjiang, the vice-captain of the medical team and an orthopedic expert, was infected with dengue fever; on the same day, Deng Hongbin, a medical oncologist, was infected as well; by 20:00, Zhang also showed the symptoms of infection.

At this point, the medical team was in panic, asking for Zhang’s instruction for the next step. "Healthy ones continue working. Sick ones, we take care of each other!" Zhang made a rigid requirement immediately.

"I still remember that there were 18 steps from the first floor to the second floor in our station. I didn’t pay attention before, but when I was sick, every step was every difficult for me," said Zhang. Suffering from high fever, Zhang had to go upstairs slowly to infuse for sick ones.

Zhang fought against dengue fever with his teammates for nearly 3 weeks. Sick ones infused medicine and got drugs for each other. They finally overcame it.

Among the ten-member medical team, seven were infected with dengue fever, and three who hadn’t been infected were insisting on providing medical services at the hospital.

"This experience made me feel that in PNG, we were surrounded by dangers. As the captain, I need to protect my teammates more," Zhang said, "PNG is the place full of my memories, and foreign aid is the thing that I'll be proud of for my whole life!"