China to increase number of doctors sent to Cape Verde

The number of Chinese doctors to Cape Verde will increase in the next three years, Cape Verde's Health Minister Christina Fontes said in an recent interview with Xinhua. The minister was giving an assessment of the five-day visit to China where she participated in a Sino-African ministerial forum on health with a theme of "The Priorities for Sino-African Cooperation in the Health Sector in the New Era." The forum was organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary since China sent its medical mission to Algeria in 1963, the first ever from China to the African continent. The meeting was devoted to the promotion of the Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015) adopted in 2012 at the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Since 1988, the minister said, China has sent to Cape Verde 15 different medical missions, the latest in 2012 comprising eight medical specialists. With the increase in the number of medical specialists, the two partners will reinforce the prenatal and post-natal medical response and improve the quality of Chinese intervention in the health sector, the minister said. She noted the importance of Chinese technical assistance to Cape Verde, especially in the training of obstetricians, surgeons and pediatricians. "We have many Cape Verdian medical experts who are undergoing training in Brazil. Before they return to the country, we shall continue having the advantage of China's support," the minister said. Besides the construction of a consultation and maternity ward at the Praia General Hospital, Cape Verde will benefit from the Chinese support in designing the hospital's master plan to increase its efficiency, Fontes said. "The Chinese authorities have equally promised that they will continue supporting us with the necessary equipment, not only on a bilateral level, but also through the Sino-African cooperation forum," the minister said. Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 km off the coast of West Africa. The islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square km are of volcanic origin. The country has an estimated population of 500,000.