People In The Know

China and Africa have a long history of collaborating on health.Ever since the 1960s, China has been providing medical aid including financing, infrastructure building and medical staff to African countries.In this time, about 20,000 Chinese health staff have been sent to work in over 60 countries and regions in Africa, helping hundreds of millions of African people, and training tens of thousands of local medical technicians.According to statistics from China's top national health authority, since the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China has built about 30 hospitals and 30 malaria treatment centers in Africa, providing medical equipment and materials.So what are the mechanisms that work well in Sino-African health cooperation? Does the relationship face new challenges as it evolves? And how could medical aid to Africa turn into something more sustainable for local people? PIK spoke with Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, and Victoria Fan, Assistant Profe