Jiangsu Medical Team will be leaving this weekened and one of the doctors that has been treating ebola patients, Dr. Zheng Yishan has said that the two months he spent working in Sierra Leone was superb and great as this was the first time he was out of China.Dr. Zheng said his government sent them to Sierra Leone to do all in their power to help end the ebola virus and promote China’s values as well as portray the Chinese culture.
He said he was very happy to come and help even though he had limited ideas about ebola, but still believed they had the capacity to work and save lives. “When we arrived there were only eight ebola patients and we said to ourselves that we must make sure none of them died. However we lost one of the eight because the man came too late,” the doctor said.
Dr. Zheng who was one of eight doctors that cam from Jiangsu was always at the forefront of helping patients in the Jui hospital, be it ebola or not. He was able to treat more than 30 people for malaria, typhoid fever, diarrhea, and other tropical ailments. “I saw it like an event to me as I was trained to save lives and when someone comes to the hospital and we test him for ebola and he is negative, we don’t send them away, but rather treat them for the ailments they have until they are well.”
Talking about our local health workers, Dr. Zheng said he was always encouraged by their enthusiasm to save lives. He said this of one of the nurses, “The nurses are always ready to jump into the PPEs and go to help the patients. One such nurse that was always ready to save lives was Alice. She is a careful and determined nurse who works assiduously in the Jui hospital to keep everybody safe.”
The Jiangsu doctor said because they were strictly following the protection codes, they have been able to avoid contraction of the ebola virus, noting, “No health worker or doctor engaged with us, ever contracted the virus. We work by the rules and we make sure that we help ourselves so that there will be no casualty.”
The Jiangsu Medical Team treated over 70 patients and they were treating people around the Bintumani Hotel where they are staffing and other people who meet them for help.
Dr Zheng said He learnt a lot about Sierra Leone and would like to come back and help in the restructuring process after ebola.
He said the Hunan team that is replacing them will be able to help restructure the Jui hospital and hope they will be around when Sierra Leone is declared ebola free.He said the ebola has brought out so many challenges in the health sector and as the rebuilding process starts, it will be good for the country to restructure and get themselves prepared to face other ailments with confidence and preparedness.
Dr. Zheng said he will always think of Sierra Leone and he hope that he will be able to meet Sierra Leoneans in Jiangsu that he can chat with and see how he can be of help to them.
He praised Dr Kanu who he said has been very instrumental in the ebola fight and hope that he will continue to be a guiding light to young doctors and nurses. “My two year old son in China knows about ebola and he has been a source of inspiration for me, because whenever I called and talk to him he will tell me that I should fight ebola. That message always gives me the zeal and courage to treat any patient that crosses my path.”
He thanked the Chinese government for giving him the opportunity to work in Sierra Leone and assured that China will never forsake Sierra Leone as he believes that the friendship between the two countries will continue to blossom until Sierra Leone reach the position where China is today.
Thursday May 14, 2015
Awoko
