19th Chinese medical team sojourns Polihali
LINEO MALATALIANA
MOKHOTLONG – The 19th batch of Chinese (Hubei) Medical Team from the People’s Republic of China have assumed their annual responsibility Lesotho in style.
The team attached to the ministry of health includes nine doctors and a physician visited the Polihali Dam area this week.
To kick things off, the medical team initiated their rounds in Mokhotlong where hosted by the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority’s (LHDA) they offered free medical care to workers and community.
Captained by Dr Wu Hui who is a physician, the team comprises of nine medical doctors from different branches of medicine inclusive of the age-old traditional Chinese practice of acupuncture.
Dr Hui said that the team is in Lesotho a time span of three months mainly stationed at Maseru District hospital. “I have only been to a few places in the country but our main station is the Maseru District Hospital,” Dr Hui said.
Dr Hui said within the short time they have been in Lesotho, he has learnt a lot on the main health problems facing the country.
“Lesotho has a lot of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and bone disorders that are accompanied by pain,” Dr Hui listed.
He attributed majority of the bone pain to the country’s cold climatic conditioning and walking long distances.
He said that they can only help patients with pain killers at the moment.
Another concern the doctor raised was the prevalence of epilepsy in children, which is close to his heart.
“Epilepsy commonly occurs in children whose mothers did not receive accurate antenatal care and the appropriate diet throughout their pregnancy,” Dr Hui explained.
The doctor also picked up on the fact that the Basotho diet consists of high fat and sugars, which are the main contributors to the prevalence of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and other relevant chronic diseases.
The Physician advocates for healthy living among Basotho with increased physical activity and improved diet.
He has urged the country to engage in countrywide health education.
Authorities at the LHDA expressed immense gratitude to the medical team.
“This is the third time the team has visited the project and the Polihali communities to render free medical consultation to both employees and the communities,” LHDA said.
Through their main contractor, LHDA has been able to employ over 2000 Basotho both laborers and management who will benefit greatly from the Medical team.
Through initiatives like this, the country has been able to maintain good standing with China. Moreover, this forms part of assisting LHDA in improving their social responsibility and helping to grow the area’s socio-economics.
Resident chief ‘Mamoloja Polihali emphasesed how important the visit was to the local community.
“This initiative meets us half way as it is very expensive for people to travel to health facilities,” Polihali said.
The chief pointed out that she spends as much as M150 just to attend her monthly check up, which most people cannot afford.
She noted with gratefulness that Chinese team helps them with humility and treats them well.
Polihali also said that she hopes that the initiative would propel those in authority to build a health facility that is closer to their community to ease access to health care for the people in her community
