China-Cameroon Medical Cooperation : 50 Years Already Gone - As If It Were Yesterday!

No better proof of the importance both Cameroon and China attach to medical cooperation agreement was needed. Than the presence of the visiting Deputy Governor of China’s Shanxi Province, Mrs. Zhao Hongyan. And the Cameroon Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie. At the reception held in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. To mark the golden jubilee of China-Cameroon medical cooperation.  

24 Medical Teams Deployed 
The Deputy Governor said Shanxi Province has dispatched 24 medical teams to Cameroon, comprising 786 members. They conducted more than 330,000 outpatient and emergency consultations, performed over 16,000 operations, saving more than 49,000 critically ill patients. And organizing more than 196 free consultations. 

Cataract Surgeries 
In terms of short-term priority projects, in 2016, she said Chinese experts were sent to Cameroon to carry out the "Action of Light" mission, performing 627 cataract surgeries for sight restoration, with a 100% success rate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese medical team shared their anti-pandemic experience, helping each other and overcoming difficulties together. International aid human resources training programmes were organized for 106 medical professionals in fields such as acupuncture, nursing, and hospital management. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine 
Meanwhile, the Chinese medical team provides more than 10,000 Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM consultations each year. And organizes TCM training courses and visits to schools and communities to deliver popular lectures on TCM. The team's performance has also earned the high recognition from the Cameroonian government. Some 253 members received international distinctions awarded by Cameroon, including 53 who were decorated with the Order of Knight of the 1st and 2nd Class of the Republic of Cameroon. This is the highest distinction granted by the Cameroonian government and people in recognition of their work. 

Deep Gratitude 
“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Cameroonian government for its attention and affection towards the Shanxi medical team. As well as to the Cameroonian side for the constant contributions made to the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of health,” Deputy Governor Zhao noted.

Brighter Future For Cooperation 
“Standing at a new historical starting point, we have every reason to believe that the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Cameroon has an even brighter future. We will fully implement the strategic consensus reached by the Heads of State of the two countries. With the support of the Cameroonian government and the Chinese Embassy in Cameroon, we will further deepen exchanges, strengthen cooperation, and bring greater well-being to the Chinese and Cameroonian people,” Mrs. Zhao pledged.

Return To Guider, Please!
The Cameroon Minister of Public Health, Dr Malachie Manaouda, said Cameroon-China medical cooperation has been most prominent in Mbalmayo Health District in the Centre Region. And other health facilities in terms of equipment and medication. The Chinese medical team has served in Guider District Hospital in the North Region. “We will like them to come back to Guider, I discussed this with the Deputy Governor of Shanxi Province of China, Mrs. Zhao Hongyan,” the Minister said. “I hope this will be done. Today, children in Guider know about China through the medical missions that served in the hospital,” he disclosed. 

Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines 
“A few years ago when we went to Nsimalen, Yaounde International Airport to receive a donation of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, the comments people made included: “It is in difficult moments that you know your true friends.” The vaccines helped in the fight against the Corona virus pandemic in Cameroon, and we say thank you for this.  Chinese vaccines were the first to be used in the fight against COVID-19,” Dr Manaouda recalled.

Common World Vision 
According to him, Cameroonian-Chinese cooperation in the health domain goes beyond simple action. It is a common vision of a just world where access to healthcare is a right and not luxury. “It is a concrete response to current challenges, for example epidemiological transition that has seen chronic non-transmissible diseases take on greater proportions in our society. And the upsurge in epidemics, inequalities in access to healthcare. 
This is why we appreciate support that strengthens the resilience of our healthcare system/ Improves healthcare delivery through universal health coverage, digitalises the health system with telemedicine and data management, locally develops medication and vaccines. While exploring cooperation between Cameroon and Chinese traditional medicine,” Dr Malachie noted. 

Aiming Longer, Higher, Stronger
“China does not limit itself to sharing, but it makes proposals and cooperates without imposing its will on others. This is the worth of the true friendship between Cameroon and China,” he commented. 
“The 50th anniversary medical cooperation between Cameroon and China is not a simple celebration. It is an appeal to aim longer, higher and stronger. The future of this cooperation depends on the present and what we construct today. 

Upcoming Plans, Projects 
“We look forward to the signing of the direct hospital cooperation framework agreements between Cameroonian health facilities and those in the Chinese Province of Shanxi; the creation of a Cameroonian-Chinese health training institute, combining tradition and innovation, support to pharmaceutical research and the transfer of technology. Or the involvement of the Ch...