Chinese medical team to be back home Wednesday from Haiti

The Chinese medical team is to arrive in Beijing Wednesday from Haiti after winding up its two-week mission in the quake-hit Caribbean country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said here Tuesday.

Ma made the remarks at a regular press conference, noting the team's work was highly appreciated by the United Nations.

The medical team left the Haitian capital for home Monday.

The team, consisting of 40 military medical professionals, immediately got to work after they set foot in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, on Jan. 25.

Up to Feb. 5, the team had treated 3,260 injured or sick locals, and distributed more than 20,000 copies of brochures on drinking water sanitation and disease control, said Ma.

The Chinese medical team has been the only one to offer comprehensive medical services from the Haitian capital after the powerful quake, including epidemic disease monitoring, treatment of the injured and the sick, and quarantine, Ma said, adding it had also gone deep down into the makeshift camps to conduct epidemic prevention work,

The team also maintained close collaboration and exchanges with international organizations such as the World Health Organization, he said.

A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Jan. 12, killing up to 200,000 people, injured many others and left 2 million in need of aid.

According to Ma, relief materials worth of 30 million yuan (4.39 million U.S. dollars) provided by the Chinese Government have been transported to Haiti.

Source: Xinhua