Medical care in Guinea

When Wang Fei and his medical team arrived in Guinea, in 2000, locals warned them not to hang their clothes outdoors because there was an insect that laid eggs in them and the larvae would creep beneath the skin and suck the fat.

"Many people suffered from this disease, myiasis, including one of our team members," said the 48-year-old orthopedic doctor from Beijing Tongren Hospital. "We had to cut the patient's skin and use tweezers to get the larvae out."

Wang and 13 of his medical colleagues spent two years in the African country after being sent by the Ministry of Health as part of China's foreign aid commitments to the country, which were first established in 1964.

Eleven medical personnel worked in the Center Hospital-University Ignace Deen, in the capital city of Conakry. The remaining three personnel went to a medical-care station in the northern city of Lab.

Since 1963, China has sent more than 20,000 medical staff to 65 countries and regions in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Currently, there are more than 48 medical teams, comprising 1,200 people, working in 47 countries, according to the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Aid to Foreign Countries.

Wang said the buildings and health conditions were so poor in Guinea they reminded him of China in the 1970s.

Malaria, cholera and yellow fever were rife. Wang said everyone in Guinea had or would contract malaria.

"When our families called we had to tell them everything was alright, to ease their anxieties, even though we were trying to cope with malaria fever ourselves."

He said that if someone was in poor health the medical conditions of Africa would make them worse.

"Some of the diseases are rare but can be treated in China. In Guinea they are often fatal," Wang said.

There are mosquitoes everywhere, Wang said, and he counted 60 on his mosquito net in the morning after his first night.

There is also a kind of acid ant that burns people's skin when it is crushed.

"We were warned not to squash them when they were on our skin, but the advice came too late," said nurse Chen Hong, also from Beijing Tongren Hospital, who had burns to her neck and shoulders.

She also had neurodermatitis, a skin disorder that she said was partly caused by work pressure.

"We were kept on standby for 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said, pointing to the wounds on her hands caused by the disease.

She said they were paid US$800 a month, which was two to three times higher than the then average salary in China.

"We had a single room in a dormitory and had a Chinese cook. Life was basically safe and comfortable, but work was exhausting," said Chen who is in her 40s.

Wang said he treated at least 50 patients a day, providing free medical care, medicine and surgery. Patients included local and Chinese officials and businessmen.

Most of the patients, however, were locals, who generally earned a living by fishing and farming. Many of them were illiterate and didn't know much about basic hygiene.

"The hospital didn't have adequate disinfection measures. Many patients died after surgery because of infection."

Wang taught the local doctors about such matters and how they could protect themselves from being infected by their patients' diseases, he said.

The tour of duty for all medical staff was two years and during that time the only contact they had with their families was by phone, letter or the Internet.

Phone calls were expensive and letters took more than a week to reach China. They didn't have Internet access and had to ask at company offices to send an e-mail.

He said foreign aid medical staff can now apply for home visits every 11 months, but have to pay their own transport costs.

Wang said the hardest part of his foreign adventure was leaving his son, who was one-and-a-half-years old when he left China.

"When I returned he was four and didn't recognize me."