BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China and Africa agreed
on Sunday to increase exchanges and cooperation in fighting HIV/AIDS and other
pandemic diseases to better safeguard their people's health.
In an action plan endorsed by Chinese and African
leaders Sunday, the two sides vowed to intensify cooperation in the prevention
and treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, Chikungunya, avian
influenza and other communicable diseases and in the fields of quarantine and
public health emergency response mechanism.
The Chinese government has decided to assist African
countries in building 30 hospitals and provide 300 million yuan (37.5 million
U.S. dollars) of grant for providing anti-malaria drugs to African countries and
building 30 demonstration centers for prevention and treatment of malaria in the
coming three years, it says.
China will continue to send medical teams to Africa
in the next three years to the best of its ability and in line with the need of
African countries and will actively explore with African countries new ways of
providing such service, according to the action plan adopted at the Beijing
Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the largest gathering between
Chinese and African leaders.
The two sides have also agreed that China will
continue to provide medicine and medical supplies needed by African countries
and will help them establish and improve medical facilities and train medical
workers, the document says.
The African countries concerned expressed
appreciation of China's dedicated assistance, and pledged to provide proper
working and living conditions for Chinese medical teams.
China has a long history of medical cooperation with
African countries. Since the first medical team was sent to Algeria in 1963,
more than 16,000 medical workers had served in 47 African countries and regions
by the end of last year, treating 170 million African patients.
About 900 Chinese medical workers are still working
in 35 countries.
Many African countries, especially in the south, are
plagued by AIDS. Currently 70 percent, or 26.6 million of the world's
HIV-infected live in sub-Saharan Africa. The continent has a staggering 3.2
million AIDS patients and 2.3 million deaths from the disease.
In a document issued in January, the Chinese
government undertook to continue its medical aid to Africa, including medical
teams, establishing and upgrading medical centers, delivering medicines and
training medical workers, in a bid to help check the spread of deadly diseases
like AIDS and malaria.
Experts say that China in return can learn a lot from
Africa, for example, to raise public awareness of AIDS prevention. While many
people still know little about the disease in China, AIDS related posters can be
found everywhere in Africa.
"The long campaign against the disease has given
African officials and experts more experience in HIV/AIDS prevention and
control," says Zhang Jianxin, a professor of Sichuan University in southwest
China, in an earlier interview with Xinhua.
Prof. Zhang is one of the lectures for the HIV/AIDS
Prevention and Control Seminar for African Countries, a training program for
African officials and doctors sponsored by the Chinese government since 2004.
The landmark two-day Beijing Summit concluded Sunday
afternoon. Chinese President Hu Jintao, 41 heads of state or government and
senior officials of 48 African countries that have diplomatic ties with China,
as well as representatives from regional and international organizations
attended the gathering highlighting "friendship, peace, cooperation and
development."
Related:
Action plan adopted at China-Africa summit, mapping cooperation
course
BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- In order to promote
political cooperation, Chinese and African leaders agreed to continue high-level
visit and set up a mechanism of regular political dialogue between foreign
ministers, according to an action plan adopted by the Beijing Summit of the
Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which concluded here on Sunday.
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