China is dispatching its 16th medical team to Madagascar on November 4, a health official announced on Monday.

 

The medical team consists of 30 experienced doctors from northwest China's Gansu Province, said Hou Shenghua, chief of the provincial health bureau.

 

Doctors of the team are experts in internal medicine, surgery, orthopaedics and gynecology, said Hou.

 

Gansu has sent 15 medical teams comprising 444 doctors to Madagascar since 1975.

 

The new team is to replace the 15th group who have served in Madagascar for two years.

 

China has sent a total of 15,000 medical personnel to 47 African nations and regions since the dispatch of its first medical team to Algeria in 1963, according to the Foreign Ministry.

 

A total of 170 million Africans have received treatment from Chinese doctors. About 950 Chinese medical staff are currently working in 36 African nations.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)