South Sudan's health minister praises Chinese medics for assistance

South Sudan's health minister Elizabeth Achuei Yol (C) awards a certificate to a member of the Chinese medical expert team in Juba, South Sudan, Sept. 6, 2020. The Chinese medical expert team finished its anti-virus missions in South Sudan and Guinea, and left for China from Juba on Sept. 6. (Photo by Gale Julius/Xinhua)

JUBA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The seventh batch of Chinese medical team in South Sudan on Sunday had left the country after completing a 17-month medical assistance mission in the east African country.

The Chinese medics were replaced by the eight batch which arrived in South Sudan about two weeks ago.

During their stay, the 15-member team, from China's Anhui Province, provided about 8,000 free medical consultations across South Sudan.

The medical team was joined in the trip back to China by another eight-member Chinese medical expert team returning from anti-virus missions in Guinea and South Sudan.

South Sudan's health minister Elizabeth Achuei Yol said the Chinese medics have been resourceful to the people of South Sudan.

"We are honored and happy for the great job the Chinese have done and continue to do in South Sudan. We are particularly proud of the skills the expert team passed to our medical staff," Achuei said during a joint farewell ceremony for the Chinese medical teams on Sunday.

"We will never forget the good things China has done for us especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. I want this relationship to be promoted for the future generations," she added.

Hua Ning, Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan, said China will continue to support South Sudan's quest to build a strong and resilient health care system.

"Good friends will always feel close even though they are thousands of miles away from each other. So, we are determined to push forward the relation between China and South Sudan," Hua said.

While in South Sudan, the two medical teams provided several training sessions to medical students, health workers and also shared experience on the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.