STORY: Chinese doctors help enhance wellbeing for Solomon Islands people
DATELINE: July 10, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:03
LOCATION: Honiara
CATEGORY: HEALTH/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of local residents at the hospital
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): REX FOUKONA, Local resident
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARTIN POPOT, Local resident
4. various of the Solomon Islands
5. various of the hospital
6. various of George Wilson Malefoasi
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): WILSON MALEFOASI, CEO of National Referral Hospital
8. various of the Chinese medical team treating patients
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): WILSON MALEFOASI, CEO of National Referral Hospital
10. various of the Chinese medical team treating patients

STORYLINE:

Chinese medical team's traditional acupuncture therapy has been gaining popularity in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, with its effect winning widespread recognition from local residents.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): REX FOUKONA, Local resident
"I have visited the acupuncture treatment for six days now. Today will be my seventh day and I think I'm in a 10-day program. For the last six treatments, I feel very much different. Their presence here is what we need, what we very much need in this country."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARTIN POPOT, Local resident
"I really appreciate the doctors. They are very professional in what they are doing. They are very punctual, they are very kind, and they are very good to Solomon Islanders."

Listed by the United Nations as one of the world's least-developed countries, the Solomon Islands has less than ideal health infrastructure. In primary-level or regional clinics, there are only nurses and nursing assistants available to treat patients, while doctors can just be found at provincial hospitals.

After the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2019, China started to dispatch medical teams including doctors and nurses to the Solomon Islands in early 2022. Currently, the second batch of eight Chinese medical team members are working here.

George Wilson Malefoasi, CEO of the National Referral Hospital, told Xinhua that it is a milestone to have acupuncture as a formal treatment in the hospital.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): WILSON MALEFOASI, CEO of National Referral Hospital
"It's a milestone to have acupuncture as a formal treatment in the hospital. I think one of the benefits of having acupuncture is that it's cost-effective. There are limited resources. And it doesn't cost that much involved in providing medical care for the public. I think that's really important in terms of providing access to poor people and people without resources."

Considering the health service situation in the Solomon Islands, the Chinese medical team is composed of medics specialized in treating varying illnesses.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): WILSON MALEFOASI, CEO of National Referral Hospital
"They provide us with some of the expertise that we don't have in the country, and even in the region. We have a urologist. We have a neurologist, and also we have a cardiologist, so that paves the way for further development that we anticipate."

Over the past three months in the Solomon Islands, the Chinese medical team has provided acupuncture services for over 1,800 patients, treated over 1,400 people with nephrological, urological, and radiological diseases, organized 16 training programs on pathology, and conducted 30 urological surgeries.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Honiara.
(XHTV)