Medical staff arrive to rebuild surgeries

By Cai Wenjun  |   2008-6-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ALL 263 medical staff sent from Shanghai to help rebuild health services in earthquake-hit Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, have arrived in the city, Shanghai Health Bureau said yesterday.

A team of 31 health officials and 20 ambulances with 40 drivers left last week, and the main team of 192 doctors, nurses, and disease-prevention professionals arrived in Sichuan yesterday by air.

Shanghai has been assigned to help Dujiangyan rebuild its infrastructure and public services after the May 12 earthquake devastated the province.

"We will help Dujiangyan to resume its medical services and public health system by the end of this year, by helping rebuild hospitals and clinics and giving professional personnel support," said Xu Jianguang, director of Shanghai Health Bureau.

"It's a tough task, as almost the entire health system there was destroyed during the earthquake."

Health centers such as Fudan University's medical school, Jiao Tong University's medical school, Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai Health Supervision Agency and Shanghai Food and Drug Administration will support four major hospitals in Dujiangyan, according to the bureau.