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West China

Profile: Lonely white angel comes on motorbike

2020-08-28 09:11:12

LANZHOU, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Standing in front of his clinic, An Guoqin often fills his mind with two things: the vastness of the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the feeling of immense loneliness deep within.

For 21 years, An has been the only doctor in Xichahe Village of Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, northwest China's Gansu Province.

An's medical practices are no easy job in the nomadic village that covers about 36,300 hectares of mountain steppes. Often he needs to travel long distances to reach his herders patients that are scattered in the area.

"I now ride a motorbike, but I used to ride a horse to visit patients' homes. Sometimes it took half a day on horseback to see one patient, and I had to sleep at their houses if it got late," the 42-year-old doctor said.

After graduating with his medical degree in 1999, An, a local of Sunan, was assigned to the village clinic as the government worked to extend medical services to all remote areas. Upon arrival, the young graduate was greeted by three shabby rooms that would leak when it rained and stayed cold in winter months.

Equipment and medicine were also in short supply, but the main challenge he faced was traveling far and wide over unfamiliar terrain to reach his patients.

"My first home visit was from a villager who had a sudden bout of illness at night. After tending to the emergency, I couldn't find my way back to the clinic and got lost in the grassland."

Even more distressing for An was helping with home births. As the area is far from other towns and city hospitals, many local mothers must deliver their babies at home and call on An, who is not an obstetrician by training.

Despite the odds, An continues to stand by the clinic and serve the 470 villagers. An's wife, however, lives in the county seat, and in the winter, they may not see each other for a month when mountain passes are blocked by snow.

"If I left, long-distances and insufficient transportation would again separate these villagers from medical services," An said.

For decades, village doctors like An have been the main healthcare providers in China's vast and impoverished countryside. They shoulder miscellaneous responsibilities ranging from the diagnosis and treatment of common diseases to fighting epidemics, saving patients in remote areas the trouble of trekking to hospitals in faraway towns and cities.

This rural medical system has been overhauled in recent years with the injection of more government funds, and many lonely village doctors receive new training and new colleagues.

Since 2004, An's clinic has been renovated six times, funded by the local government. The dirt road in front has been replaced by an asphalt one, and the inventory of the clinic has expanded to more than 120 types of drugs.

Zhang Zhijun, director of the Dahe township hospital, said apart from improved infrastructures, China's rural medical service also benefited from the ongoing campaign to eradicate poverty.

"Especially the strategy of reducing poverty by improving healthcare has raised the capability of rural medical institutions, and needy families can have their medical fees reimbursed," said Zhang, who has been a grassroots medic for 32 years.

After leaving tracks all over the steppe, An said the loneliness is being offset by his close connection with the villagers.

An Xinyu, a 68-year-old villager in Xichahe, is grateful that Doctor An has chosen to stay. Suffering from high blood pressure and arthritis, the villager needs periodic examinations but used to be daunted by the difficult trips to urban hospitals.

"An is like a family doctor who stays on call around the clock, and we are like true family members who care for each other," she said. Enditem

Editor:Jiang Yiwei