Morocco: Chinese Doctors Treat More than 12k Patients

Rabat – A team of 11 Chinese doctors from the Jiading district has served 12,600 patients since February 2021, reported Shine, Shanghai’s state-owned digital media outlet.

Since 1975, China has annually sent medical teams to Morocco to consolidate “the reputation and image of China’s medical aid teams overseas.”

The Jiading district dispatched five medical teams since 1994. The last group arrived on February 2, 2021, to serve a two-year medical aid mission. As of February 2022, they have diagnosed and treated 12,600 patients and conducted 4,300 operations.

“In the past year, I have handled more than 5,000 outpatients and emergency patients, treated more than 1,000 inpatients of various types, and presided over nearly 1,000 ophthalmic surgeries of various types, of which about 90 percent were fourth-level surgeries with great difficulties,” said Zhang Deyu Associate Chief Physician of Jiading Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Chinese doctors have worked in different Moroccan provinces, overcoming numerous challenges, such as staff and medicine shortage, poor infrastructure, and language barriers.

As Morocco faces an ongoing medical staff shortage and a pressing brain drain, foreign medical assistance can help alleviate pressure on the country’s medical teams.

To address the medical staff shortage, the Moroccan government has decided to shorten the training requirement for healthcare students and is implementing plans to fight the ongoing brain drain.

With 70% of final-year student doctors willing to leave Morocco and one-third of graduates migrating, the Ministry of Health plans to increase incentives and attract Moroccan doctors in the diaspora.