The Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, has commended China for supporting its efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak and strengthen the country’s public health emergency response capacity.
DRC Health Minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba made the remarks during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to the DRC, Zhao Bin, and Chinese medical experts assisting the country’s Ebola response.
Kamba thanked the Chinese government for deploying medical experts at a critical stage of the country’s fight against Ebola, describing the outbreak as a major public health challenge.
He said China had fulfilled its commitments by providing practical support to help the DRC strengthen epidemic prevention, disease control and public health emergency response systems.
The minister said the DRC was willing to deepen cooperation with China in epidemic surveillance, scientific research, clinical treatment and personnel training to improve health security.
Zhao said China and the DRC shared a longstanding friendship, noting that bilateral cooperation in the health sector had lasted for more than five decades.
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According to him, the Ebola outbreak is not only a public health concern for the DRC but also poses risks to regional and global health security.
He said China remained committed to promoting a global community of health for all and would continue to provide support based on the evolving outbreak and the DRC’s needs.
The head of the second batch of Chinese medical experts, Gu Zhiqiang said the team possessed extensive experience in epidemic prevention and control.
Gu said the experts would operate within the DRC’s response framework and collaborate with local authorities on epidemic assessment, laboratory testing, patient treatment, infection prevention, port health quarantine and personnel training.
He added that the team arrived in the DRC on Friday to take over from the first group of Chinese experts supporting the country’s Ebola response efforts.
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