CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- “Patients are queuing up in front of the consulting room before the opening of the clinic, and they have a strong desire to maintain their breasts healthy.” On March 3, the 14th batch of Chinese medical teams to aid the Independent State of Papua New Guinea officially opened a breast disease specialist clinic at Port Moresby General Hospital in the capital of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (hereinafter referred to as “Papua New Guinea”), which is the first standardized clinic in the country focusing on solving breast health problems.

Papua New Guinea has the largest population in the South Pacific Island. Constrained by a shortage of medical resources and professionals, adverse conditions, such as “difficulty in early screening, late diagnosis and weak treatment” have occurred in treating breast diseases, particularly for breast cancer. Relevant statistics from the World Health Organization reflect that most breast cancer patients in the country are in the middle and late stage when being diagnosed and they only have a five-year survival rate of no more than 40%.

“Many breast cancer patients had to seek for overseas medical treatment before, but ordinary families cannot afford high cost and complex procedures. Local patients can get timely and standardized diagnosis and treatment services at their doorsteps after the establishment of this clinic,” said Deng Yongchun, a member of the 14th batch of Chinese medical team to aid Papua New Guinea and Associate Chief Physician of Breast Surgery at Chongqing University Cancer Hospital.

The new breast specialist clinic can offer screening, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation services, and is equipped with advanced instruments such as digital breast ultrasound instrument and puncture biopsy equipment funded by China. Deng Yongchun said that he would also lead the breast specialists in the hospital for consultation to help them accumulate valuable and rich experience in the front line of diagnosis and treatment.

Previously, the medical team introduced graded diagnosis and treatment guidelines based on the national conditions of Papua New Guinea, and trained the first batch of four breast specialists for the local area through the mode of “theoretical training + surgery-based teaching”. In June 2024, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital also set up an international training course on breast cancer prevention and treatment technology of South Pacific island countries, through which 20 students from those countries further improved their professional capabilities after theoretical learning and practical operations.

It is learned that the medical team additionally plans to establish a breast disease database with Port Moresby General Hospital, promote the construction of the remote consultation platform, and provide normalized technical support with the aid of high-quality medical resources in Chongqing. (Translated by Wang Zhong, Fathom Language Limited)