The Ayres Menezes Hospital in São Tomé has put into operation a telecommunications system that lets doctors at the Sichuan University’s West China Hospital to attend at a distance to patients in São Tomé e Príncipe, STP-Press reports.

The São Tomé e Príncipe state-run news agency quotes Chinese Ambassador Wang Wei as saying at the ceremony to inaugurate the arrangement that the system will improve healthcare provided by locals and Chinese physicians at the African country’s central hospital.

The report quotes São Tomé e Príncipe Health Minister Edgar Neves as saying the system will also serve to train healthcare staff on-the-job,  “turning every medical appointment into a learning experience”.

A similar system lets patients at the Ayres Menezes Hospital consult doctors in Portugal, the report says.

The new system lessens the isolation of São Tomé e Príncipe from the world outside, said Mr Neves, who also emphasised the scale and reputation of Sichuan University’s West China Hospital.