"The lifesaving contribution of China's medical assistance to Ethiopia, which lasts for more than four decades, is a successful manifestation of the growing Ethiopia-China friendship," Yohannes Chala, Head of Addis Ababa Health Bureau, told Xinhua on Friday.

 

The Chinese government sent its first medical mission to Ethiopia in 1974 and has been providing medical assistance to the East African country ever since.

 

"The Ethiopian government appreciates the efforts extended by the government of China through its mission in Ethiopia to improve healthcare delivery across the country," Chala said.

 

Chala noted that healthcare provision as "a dynamic system," keeps changing by the major technological advancements in the field.

 

The Chinese government's assistance in the public health sector has "played paramount importance to the healthcare system to gear up to date with regard to knowledge and other required inputs," he said.

 

"I would like to thank all the 21 consecutive Chinese medical teams and their members who have sacrificed more than their time and energy to provide such level of care to our people," Chala said.

 

He further congratulated "all the consecutive Chinese medical teams for establishing the basis for traditional Chinese medical treatments in hospitals in Ethiopia as it gained much appreciation from the community for its healing ability."

 

Chala also urged the Chinese government as well as the current and upcoming Chinese medical professionals in the East African country to help spread the major techniques of traditional Chinese medical treatments in various other hospitals and healthcare institutions in the capital and beyond.

 

Chala, who noted the Tirunesh Beijing Hospital in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa as "a prime manifestation of the successful China-Ethiopia cooperation in the healthcare sector, also commended China "for its continued support for the transformation of the public health sector in Ethiopia."

 

The Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital, also known as the Ethio-China Friendship Hospital, located in Akaki neighborhood on the outskirts of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, presently hosts the 21st batch of the Chinese medical team, constituting 16 medical professionals who have specialized in various fields.

 

"The Ethiopia-China Friendship Hospital plays a vital role to the health needs of hundreds of thousands of Addis Ababa city habitat," Chala said, adding "many have come to this hospital seeking relief for their acute and chronic illness and have found relief from their pains and sufferings."

 

As part of the Chinese government's continued support to Ethiopia's public health sector, the 21st batch of the Chinese medical team on Friday donated a much-needed orthopedic equipments and pharmaceuticals worth 507,524 RMB (close to 73,000 U.S. dollars) to the Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital, which is considered as a model of the successful China-Ethiopia cooperation in the healthcare sector.

 

According to Jibril Abas, CEO of Tirunesh-Beijing Hospital, the current batches of donations "are very much needed for trauma patients, whom we treat as we are located at the gate of the city."

 

"Usually the Chinese government sends us a variety of equipments, but the current batch of donations is orthopedic equipments. We have Ethiopian doctors and orthopedic surgeons from the Chinese side, and these people come together and form a team and they use these equipments," Abas told Xinhua on Friday.

 

Liu Yu, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, also lauded the successful Ethiopia-China ties in the public health sector to further deepen the people-to-people connectivity between the two countries.

 

"The people-to-people connectivity is most fundamental and the most important to spur bilateral relations between any countries," Liu said.

 

"The healthcare cooperation between the two countries can lay a solid foundation for the good relations between the two countries, and that's why both Chinese and Ethiopian governments keep an importance to cooperation in the public health sector," Liu added.