Wherever China's medical teams in aid of Africa go, there is often only a desk and a piece of paper. In many places, the most advanced equipment is an X-ray machine, and there is not even an electrocardiograph, so internists can only see patients with the help of stethoscopes and sphygmomanometers. In most of the recipient areas, the outpatient clinics basically rely on drugs donated from outside, while all the surgical items need to be purchased by the patients themselves before the operation, ranging from sterilizing alcohol, needles for puncture, adhesive tapes for fixation, surgical blades, anesthesia medicines, to intra-operative fluids.
Under such circumstances, China's medical team members in aid of Africa overcame the difficulties of poor medical environment and shortage of medicines to provide medical services to the local people. In many areas, Chinese medical teams are the main medical force there. Wang Liji, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Health of China, said that the Chinese medical teams have successfully carried out cardiac surgery, removal of huge tumors, reimplantation of amputated limbs and other difficult medical technical services in the recipient countries, and saved many patients whose lives were in danger: "In Tanzania, we once cut off a large tumor of nearly more than forty pounds for a patient. Our medical team in Guyana has brought the latest technology to treat cataracts in the local population, giving sight to the blind. In addition a lot of very advanced like amputation reimplantation, which is a very strong technology in our country, broken fingers, feet fall off I attach it to bring it back to life, and countless other surgeries like that."