China has pledged to continue partnering with African countries to ensure better health care in the continent, vice premier Liu Yandong said.
Liu was addressing delegates from China and various African countries countries at a Health Ministers’ conference in Pretoria, South Africa.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the African continent carries 25% of the world’s disease burden, but its share of global health expenditure is less than one percent.
Worse still, the continent manufactures only a fraction of the medicines consumed in the continent.
The vice premier said China will provide Africa with training opportunities in healthcare work in order to better the continent’s health systems.
“We are glad that African Union’s Agenda 2063 has got health at the top of its priority list. Government shares the responsibility to promote good health for all. In 2017 China will provide Africa with more than 50 training opportunities in Healthcare work. China has to work hard with Africa to contribute to global health programmes,” she said.
In 2015 the Chinese government committed to building a hundred health facilities on the continent.
Liu also noted China’s efforts during the devastating Ebola outbreak that killed thousands.
”China and Africa have supported each other for many years. We have always had common aspirations. During the Ebola outbreak, China dispatched about twenty thousand medical workers to African countries. China has also helped Africa to improve infrastructure of a number of African Hospitals,” she added.
Already, a Chinese-developed anti-malarial drug will be tested across Africa after successful initial tests in Comoros, and is hailed as a major contribution towards the fight against the killer disease.
A majority of Africans, especially the poor, rely on often underfunded public health facilities, with only a minority having access to well-funded quality private health care. This is however expected to change with the Chinese contribution.
