"Project Hope" opened a Diabetes Training Center at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital in south China's Guangdong Province on December 10.

It is the fifth diabetes training center in China sponsored by "Project Hope".

Diabetes and related illnesses have become one of the major health risks in China with more than 30 million patients, accounting for a fifth of the world's total. China's health care expenditure for diabetes runs as high as 170 billion yuan annually.

Last year a five year educational project aided by "Project Hope" set up local training centers to train doctors, nurses and nutritionist specialists in Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

Leslie D. Mancuso, chief officer of "Project Hope", said that more than 140 medical workers from 63 hospitals in 24 provinces and cities in China have benefited from the project. These medical workers have passed on their knowledge to 25,000 diabetic patients all over China and provided better health care for another 1,000 seriously ill patients.

Chen Jiawei, deputy director of China Diabetes Association, said that "Project Hope" receives donations from Elililly, Roche Diagnostics and B-D & Co. Chinese Ministry of Health is an ardent supporter of "Project Hope".