Members of the Shanxi medical team train Togo medics on the finer points of acupuncture. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

The 25th Chinese (Shanxi) medical team currently serving in the West African nation of Togo recently made medical equipment donations, held acupuncture training sessions and carried out free medical diagnosis and consultation events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Togo.

Since its arrival in Togo in April – after having departed from Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province – the medical team has been very busy.

It has received more than 560 patients in outpatient clinics and emergency departments, treated 12 critically ill patients and completed nearly 100 operations.

This is the latest in a long history of China helping out there. In March 1974, China dispatched a medical team to aid Togo, marking the beginning of medical cooperation between the two countries.

Members of the 25th Chinese (Shanxi) medical team are currently in Togo and are hard at work there. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Li Yifeng, leader of the 25th China (Shanxi) medical team to Togo, said that since 1974, some 25 Chinese medical teams had headed out there on humanitarian missions. Each team consists of about 10 professionals in internal medicine, trauma, radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology, traditional Chinese medicine and other specialties.

The landmark achievements of the medical cooperation are the Kara Regional Central Hospital built in 1992 and the Lomé Regional Central Hospital built in 2009, where China undertook the construction and provided medical equipment.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lomé Regional Central Hospital became the designated treatment hospital for infected patients. To help Togo fight the pandemic, China donated PCR testing equipment, various anti-epidemic materials and organized two sessions of vaccinations.