The Chinese government has announced that it will build 100 hospitals and clinics across the African continent as part of a plan to improve health systems and preparation for future disease outbreaks.

This is according to an announcement by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Chinese Health Minister Lin Bin following a three-day meeting of the 2nd Ministerial Forum of China-Africa Health Development, which ended on Tuesday.

Minister Motsoaledi said the forum, which is a partnership between the Chinese government and several African countries, was a major boost to the African continent and would help strengthen the continent’s public health systems post the Ebola era.

“Learning from the EVD [Ebola Virus Disease] crisis, Chinese and African leaders in the health sectors fully support a new, well-funded, and functional international response system to manage future pandemics,” he said.

The China-Africa Forum, which is organised by the Chinese government, is guided by African countries’ programmes of action, the World Health Organisation action strategies, the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals.

Focused on saving lives

The forum’s main focus, the Minister said, was on saving lives and improving the wellbeing of people in a developing continent where millions of people are awaiting treatment.

Minister Lin Bin said over the next three years, the Chinese government and several African countries formulated and adopted a framework of implementation.

She said all parties were committed to strengthen their cooperation in public health through the construction of resilient health systems – one being the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention at AU level, regional and country levels.

China would offer support in human resources development by providing scholarships and training to health professionals in Africa, and said that African countries had agreed to have Chinese medical experts to be sent to their countries to work with their doctors.

China and Africa would also collaborate on laboratory research, as well as information sharing on major diseases.