30 years of aid from Hangzhou improves health and lifestyle of Nagqu residents
Patients, waiting for surgery in Hangzhou, take a group photo with their families and the dispatched medics.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Hangzhou's "pairing assistance" project with Nagqu Prefecture in the Xizang Autonomous Region. Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, more than 4,450 meters above sea level, the prefecture is cold and oxygen-deficient all year round.
During the past 30 years, Hangzhou has dispatched 10 groups of professionals and civil servants to Nagqu Prefecture, and invested over 1.1 billion yuan (US$153 million) working with local government departments in improving people's wellbeing and living standards.
The low oxygen and rough natural conditions have caused spinal deformities, which wreak havoc on patients' organs. Since 2019, the Hangzhou government has organized nine groups of Nagqu patients to have surgery in Hangzhou hospitals. Among the designated hospitals, the Xiaoshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has extensive expertise in spinal orthopedics.
On August 5, Xiaoshan doctors operated successfully on 9-year-old Dorji Gyalpo, who had suffered spinal deformities and clubfoot. For years, the illness had greatly affected the boy's health and life. Now, the surgery has brought hope to the family.
"All the medics here are nice to us," said Nyima Tsring, Gyalpo's father. "My son is waiting for follow-up treatments in Hangzhou."
Thus far, Hangzhou has spent over 2 million yuan helping Nagqu patients. To assist more individuals, the Hangzhou Health Commission, in collaboration with dispatched professionals, has developed a plan to identify residents of Nagqu with spinal issues and facilitate their access to free surgery in Hangzhou.
In July, the dispatched medics combed through 310 local residents and found 153 with spinal deformities. They are all waiting for surgery in Hangzhou in the future.
Thus far, the Xiaoshan TCM Hospital has operated on 80 Nagqu people with a 100 percent success rate. The average body growth is 18 centimeters with the biggest reaching 30 centimeters.
"Body growth is not the most important goal in surgeries," said Li Wei, director of the spinal orthopaedics department from the Xiaoshan TCM Hospital. "Severe spinal deformities threaten lives. The surgery is going to raise patients' life quality."
In addition to sending patients to Hangzhou, the upgrading of medical facilities is also underway in Nagqu. In June, Hangzhou's Fuyang District donated smart medical equipment to the Seni People's Hospital in a bid to enhance local treatment levels.
A boy receives treatment at the Xiaoshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
A patient bows to doctors.
As well as health care, education has also been a priority in the pairing assistance. In the 1990s, over 75 percent of young people were illiterate in Nagqu. To improve their literacy, over 56,000 Hangzhou citizens and 120 companies donated 2,250,000 yuan to build the Nagqu-Hangzhou Hope Elementary School in 1996.
In 2017, Hangzhou invested around 90 million yuan to build the Hangjia Junior High School in Seni District of Nagqu. The school now has 179 teachers and 2,069 students.
In recent years, Hangzhou has invited Nagqu teachers to learn about the teaching expertise in the Zhejiang Tianma Experimental Junior High School.
Meanwhile, livestream has been used to build a bridge between the two cities. Teachers from Hangzhou can deliver classes to students in Nagqu through livestreams, thereby sharing a wealth of educational resources and expertise with local children and faculty members.
In 2020, Hangzhou established an experimental class in Tianma school, inviting Nagqu teenagers to study in Zhejiang Province. This is a pilot measure to fill the educational gap between the two areas.
Hangzhou has also prioritized the economy in the impoverished area. Seen as the "roof of the world," Nagqu is known for its picturesque plateau landscapes and long sunshine hours. In a bid to make full use of its natural advantages, Zhejiang Energy Group invested 265 million in a photovoltaic project there last year. After completion, the energy produced by the project is expected to reach 7,100 million kWh a year, reducing 65,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission.
Since the Chinese government initiated the pairing assistance program in the 1990s to help poverty-stricken regions, Hangzhou has supported the development of 11 cities and 47 counties across eight provinces. Groups of government officials, doctors and teachers have been deployed to improve the local living standards.
