Medical team keeps Pakistani kids healthy

Fifteen students from the China-Pakistan Government Primary School Faqeer Colony in Gwadar, Pakistan, received free health checkups at the Fraternity Emergency Care Center on Wednesday morning, local time.

The checkup was part of a health project initiated by the Chinese Red Cross foreign aid medical team since they arrived in Gwadar on Sept 22.

The 15 children, aged 10 to 14, followed a checklist including height, weight, eyesight, cardiogram and blood examination.

The checkup lists, printed with their personal information and photos, are designed and made by the team members to facilitate the children's health records.

Wu Gang, leader of the aid medical team, said that the children will be treated if any disease is diagnosed. Records will also be documented to secure them a healthier future.

"It is the first time they have received a physical examination since they were born," said Naseem Baloch, a volunteer at the Fraternity Emergency Care Center. "Their health condition may be not good. But we now have a medical team that offers assistance to us."

"It is what we urgently need. I hope that these kids can receive regular health checkups in the future if possible," he said.

The medical staff also received five patients when conducting health checkups for the children. Gatekeepers of the center serve as translators when the patients cannot speak English.

The Chinese Red Cross foreign aid medical team in Gwadar, consisting of 12 members from Huashan Hospital of Fudan University and the Beijing branch of the Red Cross, is dispatched by National Health and Family Planning Commission and Red Cross Society of China in 2017.

Stationed at the China-Pakistan Fraternity Emergency Care Center, they will offer medical services to Chinese in Gwadar and local residents in their two-year term of service.

Training will also be offered to Pakistani medical staff during these two years.

The China-Pakistan Fraternity Emergency Care Center, which finishes on May 7, received funding of 10 million yuan ($1.55 million) from the Red Cross Society of China.

Chen Juan contributed to this story.