Medical co-operation between China and Mozambique is “one of the best” such international partnerships on public health, Mozambican Deputy Minister of Health, Mouzinho Saíde, told Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

“We found the [Chinese] medical teams display discipline and knowledge; they establish good examples of activities in medical operations by saving lives in hospitals,” Mr Saíde said in an interview.

According to Xinhua, the 20th – and current – medical team to be sent by China to Mozambique includes 13 doctors. Per month they see on average 1,100 people as outpatients and conduct over 120 surgeries.

Mozambique, in East Africa, is facing several health challenges affecting its population, including HIV/AIDS infections, malaria and tuberculosis.

Liu Cunwei, head of the Chinese medical team, noted – as quoted by Xinhua – “Chinese doctors are probably the only ones treating local patients for free in the country, taking no salary from the Mozambican Government”.

The Mozambican Deputy Minister of Health also stressed the importance that traditional Chinese medicine could have in the African country. Mr Saíde told Xinhua such complementary therapy had the “potential to benefit more people”, and could serve to “address the drug deficit in Mozambique”.

Since Mozambique achieved its independence from Portugal in 1975, China has sent a total of 300 medical workers to assist the country’s health service, said Xinhua’s report, filed on Sunday.