Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On April 24, 2022, the first part of the 25th Chinese medical team from Shanxi arrived in Togo. Dr. Li Yifeng would be captain of a group of 14 doctors and medical personnel in the city of Kara, all of whom would primarily aid in the Kara-Dondai Regional Central Hospital. Several months later on October 25th, the second part of the 25th Chinese medical team arrived in Togo from Shanxi. The second group, led by Dr. Liu Yu, would be based in the Lomé Regional Hospital Center (CHR-Lomé Commune) in the capital of Lomé. The team in Lomé consisted of 6 to 9 medical personnel who were all dispatched from Xinzhou People’s Hospital. The team in both locations comprised of doctors who spanned the practices of internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, orthopedics, radiology, laboratory, and traditional Chinese acupuncture. As of October 20, 2023, the team had completed 7 technical assistances, science lectures, and academic exchanges, 9 free clinics around the country, and 6,548 outpatient treatments. Moreover, the team in Lomé returned to China roughly a week later on the 26th, after handing off responsibilities to the 26th Chinese medical team who would also be based in Lomé, Togo. Since 1974, the Chinese government has been sending groups of medical personnel to Togo. Originally, Shanghai was responsible for dispatching the medical teams, however Shanxi Province assumed the responsibility in 1983.
Staff comments
1. Alternative names for Lomé Regional Hospital Center are Hospital Center Regional De Lomé-Commune and CHR-Lomé Commune. 2. Sources on the 25th medical team to Togo either identify Liu Yu (an Obstetrician and Gynecologist) or Li Yifeng (a Surgeon) as captain of the team. Their names never appeared in the same source. However, whenever Dr. Liu Yu was mentioned, the source discussed a 25th Chinese medical team based in the capital of Lomé or Togo in general. Whenever Dr. Li Yifeng was mentioned, the source discussed a Chinese medical team in the city of Kara or Togo in general. These occurrences suggest that the 25th medical team was divided between two locations; one part of the team was based in Lomé and was led by Dr. Liu Yu, and the other part was based in Kara and was led by Dr. Li Yifeng. Furthermore, regardless of which city and team was discussed, sources stated that the team members were from Shanxi province. Dr. Li’s team arrived earlier than Dr. Liu’s team, with the former arriving on April 24, 2022 (see Source ID# 201433) and the latter arriving on October 25, 2022 (see Source ID# 201137). 3. In the sources, the team in Lomé and in Kara are both referred to as the 25th Chinese medical team and all the doctors hail from Shanxi province. For this reason, AidData has decided not to code the team as distinct and separate entities. 4. It is uncertain whether Dr. Li’s team also came from Xinzhou People’s Hospital. This issue warrants further investigation.