Zambia honors Chinese military medical team

The Zambian army on Friday honored a Chinese military medical team that has been working at a military hospital for its distinguished service.

The 18th Chinese military medical team was honored with the Zambia Army Foreign Service medals during a ceremony held at the Zambia army headquarters in Lusaka, the country's capital.

The 11-member team. which has been working at the Maina Soko Military Hospital since January 20 last year, is scheduled to go back to China next week. The team is comprised of nine medical doctors specialized in various fields with two support staff.

"On behalf of the Zambia defense force and indeed on my own behalf, allow me to congratulate you for this tremendous achievement of the completion of your tour of duty to Zambia. We are all grateful and are beneficiaries for the work that you performed during the 12 months that you have been with us," Zambia Army Commander Lieutenant-General Paul Mihova said in remarks delivered during a medal presentation ceremony.

The Zambian army commander said this was a demonstration of the cordial relationship that exists between the People's Liberation Army of China and the Zambian Defense Force and the ever growing relationship between people of the two countries.

The People's Republic of China has been an all-weather friend and has been of great help to the Zambian defense force medical services, he added.

Zambia, he said, will forever remain indebted to China for the assistance it has been rendering, adding that the Chinese military medical team has contributed to the government's goal of providing quality healthcare of all citizens.

"Maina Soko Military Hospital has for a long time received support in the area of hospital equipment, drugs and human resource. The new hospital in Ndola (a city in the Copperbelt Province) the northern command military hospital is already benefiting from medical aid from China," he said.

"The hospital last year received state of the art medical equipment in all departments which has enabled it to open the outpatient department," he added.

Sun Ming, the defense attaché at the Chinese Embassy in Zambia lauded the warm relations that have existed between the two countries over the years, adding that the Chinese military medical team worked diligently with their Zambian counterparts to enhance health care services while in Zambia.

Yan Zhiqiang, the team leader of the medical team said his team worked hard together with their Zambian counterparts to provide health care services, adding that the team cherished the period it spent in Zambia.

He further said the medical equipment provided by China has improved the medical condition of the hospital and has greatly benefited the Zambian people.

The 19th Chinese Military Medical team is expected in Zambia next week. Endit