A TOTAL of 10 million people have benefited from the medical services offered by the Chinese medical team over the past 60 years.

Zhang Jungiao, team leader of the 27th Chinese medical team unveiled this in Dar es Salaam today when explaining the achievements recorded since the first batch arrived in the country in 1964.

He said that the medical team includes anaesthesiology, cardiac surgery, cardiology, intensive care medicine, respiratory medicine, paediatrics, orthopaedics, and neurosurgery.

Jungiao said that during the collaboration, the medical team shared their experience as well as training the generation of local doctors on how to use new equipment to deliver quality healthcare services.

“We did our concerted efforts to bridge the gap through knowledge sharing to local doctors and nurses to rescue the life of Tanzanians by ensuring the provision of high and standard quality healthcare,” he said.

Liu Yimin, cardiac surgeon from the team appealed to Tanzanians to adhere to regular medical check-ups to diagnose disease on time.

He said that during years of diagnosis, treatment, and observation by the Chinese medical team, many diseases plague the health of Tanzania’s people, many of which are caused by late examinations or delayed treatment for other reasons.

Minor diseases have become a major problem, and there are also many congenital developmental defects and hereditary diseases that necessitate the need to see a doctor promptly and have timely prenatal care.

Yimin also called Tanzanians to eat a balanced diet and change their lifestyle to prevent the increase in the number of people reported suffering from Non-Communicable Disease (NCD).

“NCDs are on the rise in Tanzania. Therefore, we must avoid unhealthy lifestyles as individuals or families to be free from diseases,” he said.

When comparing, Yimin said that in China cardiovascular disease is mostly diagnosed in people aged 70 to 80 years while in Tanzania the disease was found much in young people aged 25 to 35 years.

He commended the China and Tanzania governments for the initiative of establishing the cardiovascular institute in the country adding that it has become the largest and most advanced cardiology diagnosis and treatment center in Tanzania, and even in the whole of East Africa.

In recent years, the Chinese government launched a China-Africa medical cooperation programme, allowing more Tanzanian doctors to receive medical training in China, sending medical teams to African countries to carry out free diagnosis, treatment programmes, training camps, and donating a large number of medical supplies to Tanzania people.