The Kingdom of Lesotho and the People’s Republic of China’s marked 30 years of bilateral relations through the official handing over of the M800 million state – of -the- art Maseru District Regional Hospital and Eye Clinic.
The Prime Minister, Mr Ntsokoane Matekane, together with the Acting Chinese Ambassador to Lesotho, Mr Lyu Liangzhong, officiated this through ribbon cutting as a sign of opening the doors to the public to access services.
The Maseru District Hospital is paired with China Wuhan No.1 Hospital as implementation of a proposal by President Xi Jinping to build a China-Africa community of health.
In his remarks, Prime Minister Matekane said that the event is testament of enhancing not only bilateral relations of the two countries but health services in the country.
He said that this new hospital was built with the intention to reduce congestion at the Queen ‘Mamohato Memorial Hospital, therefore urging the health professionals who are deployed at the Maseru District hospital to ensure that Basotho are served with love and empathy.
He said that through this ultra-modern hospital, Basotho will have access to health services which for the longest time they only had an opportunity to access in South Africa, adding that services such as kidney dialysis, dermatologic surgery to mention a few will be offered.
He added that there is also tele medicine training equipment for health professional students so that they complete their internships.
Furthermore, he appealed to health professionals and staff of the hospital to care for the facility while at the same time supporting patients with love and care.
“I thanked the government of China for the beautiful hospital, and Members of Parliament, Principal Chiefs of Thaba-Bosiu and Matsieng, ministers, the public and past government leaders for the vision that there was a need for Maseru to have a hospital and also taking part in ensuring that their vision became a reality”, he concluded.
On the other hand, Mr Liangzhong said that medical and health care forms an important part of China – Lesotho practical cooperation saying through the joint efforts they have achieved tangible results in this field.
He explained that according to the agreement between the Chinese government and the government of Lesotho. China has been sending medical teams to Lesotho since 1997, saying to date 18 teams of over 180 doctors from China’s Hubei province have come and provided free medical and health care services to their Basotho friends.
“I am happy to announce that the 18th Chinese Medical Team which has been working at Motebang hospital is going to transfer to Maseru District hospital and play a very big role,” he said.
He mentioned that in their joint battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Lesotho have stood side by side.
He highlighted that in the future China will support Lesotho health policies and help her to strengthen the prevention and control system of communicable diseases, improve medical research, develop traditional medicine and improve medicine accessibility and affordability.
“We also seek opportunities to support Lesotho in reducing the prevalence of HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases,” he added.
On the same token, the Minister of Health Mr Selibe Mochoboroane said that this beautiful statue has made waves in the history of Lesotho, saying that all leaders of this country from the second coalition, third, fourth and fifth have all contributed to seeing this dream becoming a reality. He said Basotho should be proud because their leaders despite their political affiliations pushed the construction of their beautiful hospital.
He promised the Basotho nation to get better, quality, efficient services from this hospital which he emphasized is going to reduce travel to South Africa, while at the same time providing services through specialists and super specialists.
Meanwhile present to witness the handing over were among others former Prime Ministers Mr Pakalitha Mosisili and Dr Moeketsi Majoro, former Deputy Prime Minister Mr Lesao Lehohla, Senior government officials, Members of Parliament, Chinese community and Basotho at large.
Maseru District hospital is a China-aided project with 10 functional buildings, modernized supporting facilities as well as training facilities and dormitories for trainee doctors and nurses and features some of the state-of-the-art medical equipment.
This modern facility intends to provide improved health services to Maseru residents and other districts, in particular services including eye care, cancer, tuberculosis (TB), HIV, and non-communicable diseases including telemedicine platforms.
The 200 bed hospital construction by Chinese contractor, Shanghai Construction Company under Chinese government aid started in February 2021 and it is expected to benefit at least 400 000 people in Maseru and other districts.
Source: Lesotho News Agency (LENA) 13/06/2024
