Jin Wenwei from the Chinese medical team to Central African Republic: Symbol of China-Africa friendship

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-05-27

Jin Wenwei is a chief physician at the radiology department of the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University. Jin has served as a member of the Chinese medical team to Central African Republic for four times. He was head of the team twice. He overcame severe conditions, including hot weather, diseases threat, lack of medical equipment and a unstable political situation, and completed the medical aid task for Central African Republic with his team members. His prominent performance and sense of honor contributed a lot to China’s foreign medical aid work.

Medical work under difficult conditions

In August 2000, Jin went to work at Bangui’s Friendship Hospital in the capital of Central African Republic as a Chinese medical team member from Zhejiang province and was in charge of radiology work. He overcame the language barrier and tried his best to train medical staff of Central African Republic on x-ray film shooting technics and how to understand x-ray film. He never let a single technical point go by without explaining it in detail. He went through the whole set of operations in person and patiently answered the foreign staff’s questions in reading the x-ray film.

Jin has always been keen on learning new technology and clinical practice. After studying B ultrasound inspections on abdomen and pelvic cavity diseases, he also learned how to inspect the heart, eyes and breasts, offering valuable information for clinical diagnosis. He also made use of radioactive interventional therapy theory to conduct B ultrasound interventional therapy. A dying patient suffering continuous abdominal pain and high fever for half a month was sent to the Chinese medical team after failing to get effective treatment in several national hospitals in Bangui. Jin performed a B ultrasound test on the patient and found a huge hepatophyma liver abscess. With the surgeon’s assistance, Jin performed a liver puncture on the patient, drew out a large quantity of fester, and then injected an antibiotic in the sick area. The next day, the patient’s body temperature went back to normal, starting the recovery process. The news took the whole medical circle in Bangui by storm, and many local doctors were eager to learn the skill. It also brought fame to the friendship hospital’s radiology department. Many people, from civilians living hundreds of miles away to senior government officials and foreign envoys, all came to the hospital asking for treatment. Central African Republic repeatedly asked Jin to extend his stay for two more years to strengthen and consolidate the bilateral cooperation and exchange in radiation technology.