Chinese doctors deliver free medical services to remote Kiribati islands

Che Xiaoshuang (1st, L) from the Chinese medical team provides medical services at Bakaka village in Tamana, Kiribati, on Sept. 12, 2023. (Chinese medical team stationed in Kiribati/Handout via Xinhua)

Over 130 Kiribati residents benefited from the attentive free medical services including consultations, cardiopulmonary auscultation and wound debridement by Chinese doctors stationed in the island country.

SYDNEY, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese doctors on Thursday finished a four-day visit to Tamana and Tabiteuea North, two islands of Kiribati located more than 300 kilometers southeast of the capital Tarawa, after delivering free medical services to local residents.

At the invitation of Kiribati Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Cao Lijun and Che Xiaoshuang from the second batch of the Chinese medical team stationed in the Pacific island country departed from Tarawa on Monday, heading to their destinations by plane.

They not only provided consultations for critically ill patients, but also offered to local communities other free services, such as blood pressure and blood sugar measurement, cardiopulmonary auscultation, wound debridement and dressing change, as well as medication guidance.

Cao Lijun (1st, L) from the Chinese medical team provides medical services at Bakaka village in Tamana, Kiribati, on Sept. 12, 2023. (Chinese medical team stationed in Kiribati/Handout via Xinhua)

From Monday to Thursday, more than 130 Kiribati people benefited from the services offered by Chinese doctors along with representatives of Kiribati's health authority.

Among them, the medical crew also identified patients who required urgent hospital care, including a woman in post-term pregnancy and people with severe lower back injuries. They were later transported to Tungaru Central Hospital in Tarawa for further treatment.