Interview: Moroccan official lauds China's contribution to improving Morocco's healthcare service in past decades

RABAT, April 6 (Xinhua) -- A Moroccan health official has lauded China's contribution to improving Morocco's healthcare service over the past decades by sending Chinese medical teams to the North African country.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Belmadani Abdelwahab, director of the Planning and Financial Resources Department under Morocco's Ministry of Health and Social Protection, also underlined the importance of strengthening Morocco's cooperation with China in the health sector.

Since the arrival of the first Chinese medical team to Morocco in 1975, China has so far dispatched about 2,000 medical personnel in 195 batches to the North African country. They have so far provided free medical services for about 5.78 million Moroccan patients and performed nearly 530,000 surgeries.

"The distribution of (Chinese doctors) were based on Morocco's medical needs, so that they could fill in vacancies in places that face a critical shortage of medical personnel," said Abdelwahab, adding the Chinese doctors have been mostly assigned to work in remote places, especially rural and mountainous areas.

He praised the Chinese doctors for their "friendliness, perseverance and competence," which have helped improve the efficiency of local hospitals.

Abdelwahab said that the Chinese medical teams have played a role of "building a bridge of friendship," citing that some Chinese doctors were invited to attend Moroccans' weddings and celebrations.

"Great bonds of friendship have been established between Chinese doctors and the Moroccan community, which is home to both doctors and citizens," he said.

The Moroccan government is now more open to initiatives in the health sector to diversify bilateral cooperation, Abdelwahab said, adding that medical institutions and schools from both Morocco and China have started to cooperate in a number of fields, such as telemedicine.

In March 2020, China proposed the concept of building a global community of health for all. In the past three years, China has consistently followed through on its promises to increase its medical and public health cooperation with Morocco, Abdelwahab said.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, China has provided Morocco with a large quantity of urgently needed medical supplies, including the Sinopharm vaccines, in a timely manner. This is another example of China's dedication to building a global community of health for all, the Moroccan official said.

"The cooperation between Morocco and China is constructive," Abdelwahab said. "Profound friendship and solid mutual trust lie within the framework of the medical cooperation between the two countries."

Abdelwahab expressed optimism about furthering the medical cooperation between Morocco and China. "We are very pleased to work with Chinese medical teams and will continue to deepen this cooperation," he said.