Healthcare: China Urged To Use Cooperation Relations To Assist Africa

The UNFPA Country Representative to China gave a lecture to journalists in Beijing over the weekend.

Nigerian-born Dr Babatunde Ahonsi, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, UNFPA Country Representative to China, says the country should use its huge cooperation ties with Africa to improve population and reproductive healthcare issues on the continent. He spoke at a seminar for Chinese journalists over the weekend in the Department of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Dr Ahonsi said investing in both contraceptive and maternal and newborn health services saves money. Chinese organizations and institutions are keen to expand their partnerships with Africa and engage in constructive collaboration and exchange of experiences and lessons, he noted. He listed a number of areas in China South-South Cooperation (involving UNFPA) such as investing in young people to harness demographic dividends.

Health and wellbeing, especially sexual and reproductive health and ending AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, acquiring essential medicines and regular use of contraceptives, are key to improving the lot of Africans. China-Africa ties should be used to improve collaboration between higher education institutions and think-tanks. According to him, institutional collaboration through twinning partnerships between cities, counties and hospitals to access reproductive health information and services and equipment, medicines/commodities and experts in China, including promotion of local manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, needs to be steeped up.

 “China’s development success, willingness and strategic interests in fostering global peace and shared prosperity constitute a good platform fo...