Chinese doctors arrive in quake-hit Haiti

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-26 13:22

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A team of Chinese army doctors and nurses arrived at the airport of the earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince on Monday to provide medical care for the Haitians, bringing with them large quantities of medicine and medical equipment.

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The 40-member Chinese medical team will replace the medical staff in the Chinese international rescue team currently operating in Haiti who have worked for 11 days in the Haitian capital.

The team will stay in Haiti for three or four weeks, providing basic medical care to survivors of the January 12 quake which killed an estimated 150,000 people and injured numerous others.

Wang Yurong, head of the Chinese medical team, told Xinhua on Sunday that he and his colleagues are "confident" and "ready" to accomplish their mission in Haiti.

The team left Beijing Sunday evening on a chartered plane that was also carrying 20 tons of medical supplies.

According to Wang, their mission in Haiti is to help the Haitian people cope with the threat of post-quake epidemics and reconstruct their homeland. They will get down to work immediately after their arrival.

All the 40 medical workers, among whom are internists, surgeons and anti-epidemic experts, are from China's military medical service. They have participated in other UN peacekeeping missions and the massive rescue mission after a massive quake hit southwest China's Sichuan province in 2008.