Month: March 2020

Since the original outbreak of the coronavirus in Hubei, China, at the end of January, 346 medical teams, from 29 Provinces in China, have been sent to Hubei to save lives, aiding local medical teams.

The hospital that Xiang oversees, the Yifu Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, got notification to go on the mission, on 24 January, just before Chinese New Year, the most important time for people to return home and reunite with family. This is an edited and translated version of the interview conducted by our colleagues from the UN News Chinese team. 

A battalion assembled overnight

Jiangsu Medical Mission at the airport to head to Hubei Province., provided by Lu Xiang

“So many medical staff volunteered to go, that they had to be put on a waiting list. The first batch of medical personnel, six doctors and nurses, was dispatched from our hospital on 25 January.

With over 30 years of experience, I was eager to contribute to the front line, but the severity and massive scale of the epidemic was also intimidating. I eventually got the phone call to go on 10 February, and I was told that I was going to lead a team to the city of Huangshi. In less than 24 hours, I had to assemble a temporary medical team of 310 people from a dozen hospitals, so I was really pressed. 

I didn’t know some of the medical staff, and I’m not familiar with Huangshi, but I knew that my management and clinical experience would be helpful on the front line. All the people on the mission were very willing to participate in this battle. I remember feeling under pressure and stressed, but also full of confidence.

A patient recovering from COVID-19 after efforts by Lu Xiang and his medical team, provided by Lu Xiang

At that time, the epidemic in Huangshi was close to its peak. By the time we arrived, there was close to 800 patients, including around 100 in a critical condition. The medical staff were very tired, and there was a shortage of protective materials.

Clearly, our medical team had arrived at the most difficult time and the most intense period of the battle against the virus. It was really difficult: if the conditions are poor, there is no way to fight the war. 

No time to eat

For the first two weeks, we worked almost around the clock. There was almost no time to eat, let alone to contact our families. We renovated the hospital to increase the number of beds, and concentrated critical patients in one of the best-equipped hospitals. 

I even worked as a temporary carpenter to transform general wards into intensive care wards that met the national standards overnight!

Although there is no medication to cure COVID-19, my experience is that it is important to diagnose and seek to treat patients as early as possible. I have seen some encouraging cases: a 93-year-old patient in critical condition recovered, and another patient was discharged from hospital after two rounds of ventilator intubation.

Doctors don’t fear hardships, but misunderstanding

Since the beginning, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the international organizations made objective assessments of China’s fight against the epidemic and made correct decisions. I think this was a sign of solidarity and support.

Not being misunderstood by others is, I think, the most important thing.  As doctors, we are not afraid of hardship, we ’re not afraid of fatigue. But we hope that people can understand us in the right way, especially in difficult times such as these.

Facing pandemic: Don’t Panic!

Next week, my team will complete its mission and return home. I’m pleased to say that none of our medical team members and local medical staff were infected. 

For the general public, my main message is “don’t panic!”.

When Wuhan saw a big rise in cases, many people were panicked, and flocked to the hospitals, which caused cross-infection. So, stay calm, and stay indoors whenever possible. This is the most important experience that I want to share.”
 

It’s three o’clock in the afternoon at the Lunalilo Home, a residential and day care centre for elderly people nestling at the foot of a dormant volcano on the outskirts of Honolulu, the capital of the US state of Hawaii. Novena Sanchez, originally from the Philippines, busies herself looking after the kupuna, the Hawaiian term for older people, who have gathered in the home’s communal room for an afternoon of activities. 

Ms. Sanchez came to the United States some 22 years ago after training as a nurse in the Philippines. During a break from work, she told UN News that she was always attracted to the nursing profession. “Since I was a young girl, whenever I went into a hospital or health centre, I would admire the nurses working there.”

From the Philippines to the US

She grew up in her home country in what she describes as a “hard way” and says she was “lucky” to come to the United States to live and work alongside her husband who had enlisted in the US navy.
She’s been working for several years at Lunalilo, which was established in 1883 following a bequest by High Chief William Lunalilo, a former King of the Hawaiian Islands. 

Like many migrants, Ms. Sanchez brings useful skills and experience to her adopted country but says she has also sacrificed being away from her parents. Hers may be the typical migrant experience, sending money home to family in the Philippines while recognizing her “responsibilities” towards four children who were born in the United States.
Ms. Sanchez is not the only migrant worker employed at Lunalilo. She’s joined by colleagues from as far away as Uganda, Tonga and Ecuador. 

Diane Paloma is the CEO of Lunalilo Home in Honolulu, Hawaii., by UN News/Daniel Dickinson

And the CEO of Lunalilo homes, Diane Paloma, is herself the descendant of Japanese migrant workers who came four generations ago to work on Hawaii’s sugar cane plantations.

“Migrants have played a critical role in Hawaii and continue to do so, especially in the health care sector,” she told UN News in her office overlooking Lunalilo’s verdant tropical lawn and small kitchen garden.

“It’s good to have diversity in the workforce” she says. “We don’t want to have only one particular type of caregiver, so we welcome diversity and I personally love the different cultures that they bring to Lunalilo, especially the food!”

Aloha culture

Hawaii’s indigenous culture is reflected strongly in the daily life of the Pacific island archipelago and its multicultural communities, most commonly through the greeting aloha, which means hello, but which also carries a deeper cultural and spiritual significance encompassing love, affection, peace, compassion and mercy.    

Ms. Paloma recognizes that migrant workers often come with “different philosophical values. My challenge is, how can I teach somebody from another country, aloha and that compassion? It takes a little bit longer than if we had somebody who innately understands aloha and caring for kupuna, so employing a migrant can come with risks.”

Good health and well-being

SDG Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being., by United Nations

The migration of health and other skilled workers from developing to developed countries is not a new phenomenon, but the World Health Organization [https://www.who.int/hrh/migration/en/] says it is on the rise. Over the last decade, there has been a 60 per cent increase in migrant doctors and nurses working in the world’s wealthiest countries.

And while that may be good news for healthcare in those developed countries, poorer countries are often losing skilled workers either on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. The brain-drain of skilled workers means that the target of providing universal health coverage, a key aim of the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) which focuses on Good Health and Well-Being may be more difficult to reach.

Decent work

According to the International Labour Organization, the UN’s work-focused agency, some 2.1 billion people were in need of health care services in 2015; by 2030, this number is expected to reach 2.3 billion, driven by an additional 200 million older persons and children.