The Chinese Military Medical Experts Group

Chinese team doctors wear their personal protective equipment, ready to help Sierra Leone fight COVID-19

The Chinese Military Medical Expert Group (CMMEG) is comprised of 12 medical experts dispatched by the People's Liberation Army of China to Sierra Leone to support the African country’s health sector. Since its arrival in July 2019, the professional medics have been doing laboratory tests and case management of various diseases like malaria, typhoid fever, HIV and AIDS, hepatitis B, and other related cases. Over 3, 500 cases have been diagnosed and treated by the Chinese team before the COVID-19 outbreak in Sierra Leone.

According to the team leader, Dr. Zhao Guangyu said their center at the Wilberforce Army Barracks in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, was transformed into a COVID-19 center and they were given the specific duty of performing tests on samples collected and conducting treatment on COVID-19, especially critical cases. The center diagnosed the first COVID-19 case in Sierra Leone and has discharged the first batch of treated patients.

Dr. Zhao Guangyu said more than 1,000 samples have been tested and nearly 200 patients, some of whom are in critical condition, were treated. “We are operating the best center for COVID-19,” he remarked and furthered that they have ventilators, oxygen, and other equipment for critical cases. CMMEG has been working closely with local staff and has been collaborating with other medical teams like the Cuban medical team and some non-governmental organizations.

“We have extended our stay in Sierra Leone to help fight the COVID-19,” he said and that they have been sharing experiences with their colleagues in China and also share ideas with local staff on how to better treat COVID-19 cases.

“We believe that China and Africa are working together to build an even closer community with a shared future. We consider the local staff in Sierra Leone as part of our family. We are working as a team to build a community of common health for the good of all,” the team leader said.

The co-team leader of CMMEG, Zheng Junjie is an expert in the clinical area. He has been working with the team on infection prevention and control for diseases in Sierra Leone, revealing that they have been working side by side with their Sierra Leonean counterparts on skills transfer.

“I am happy to work with committed and friendly local experts,” he said and stated that Sierra Leone has a great future especially with a young population that is striving for development. “I hope COVID-19 will soon be a thing of the past, and that the team will continue to support Sierra Leone’s health sector,” Zheng Junjie said.