The minister for Health,  Dr Diane Gashumba, has hailed the cooperation between China and Rwanda in the sector of health, describing it as a very important aspect in the development of the country’s health sector.

Gashumba was speaking at the Chinese embassy in Kigali on Monday evening during an event organised to bid farewell to Chinese medical team as well as welcoming a new group.

This is the 18th medical group from China, and replaces the 17th group which has concluded two years offering health care services at Kibungo and Masaka hospitals.

Addressing both the outgoing and incoming teams as well as embassy officials, Gashumba said that the support of the Chinese government infrastructure development, and education is very important in development of Rwanda’s health sector.

"The Rwanda- China cooperation in the field of health care is very critical, it has helped in the construction of Masaka Hospital and the continuous support towards Kibungo Hospital through construction of dormitories for medical personnel,” she said.

"The Chinese have also equipped Masaka Hospital with the appropriate equipment, ranging from clinical equipment to office furniture in all the different hospital departments,” she added.

She expressed gratitude for the support describing the relationship between the two countries as an excellent one.

"I look forward to further cooperation in developing the health sector, especially in specialised areas,” she said.

Rao Hongwei, the Chinese envoy to Rwanda, praised the members of the 17th Chinese medical team for having made "real contribution” towards the health services in Rwanda.

According to Amb. Rao, the 17th team received up to 4355 cases during the course of the two years they have been serving in Rwanda, and among other interventions,  they performed 450 surgical operations and attended to  990 children with the acupuncture treatment.

China started sending medics in Rwanda since 1982 and they have treated up to 800,000 people.

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