Edited by XI Yue (Andie)

The year 2023 marks the 10^th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). From a Chinese initiative to international practice, from an idea to action, from vision to reality… Fruitful achievements have been made as the BRI has become a popular international cooperation platform. With the continuous deepened development of the BRI, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine, has started a new chapter in promoting joint contributions to the BRI.

The third conference for promoting the development of the Belt and Road Initiative in Zhejiang province was held on November 21 in Jinhua, Zhejiang. Guests from Belt and Road countries and regions gathered together to share results for future development. In the meeting, the China and Malaysian Medical Personnel Exchange and Joint Training Project proposed by SRRSH was selected as one of the 20 major cooperation projects on promoting the development of the BRI in Zhejiang. Dr. YU Hong, vice president of SRRSH, and Dr. Nazirah Binti Hasnan, Director of University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of both institutions at the conference.

Dr. YU Hong, Vice President of SRRSH, and Dr. Nazirah Binti Hasnan, Director of UMMC participated in the on-site signing ceremony.

Dr. YU Hong said that the two institutions took the lead in carrying out clinical novel technique joint research and personnel training in the field of molecular pathological detection. Based on this project, SRRSH will further advance broader exchanges and cooperation with Universiti Malaya and UMMC to provide more medical technical personnel for Malaysian healthcare development and the Belt and Road Initiative, injecting new vitality into medical collaborations between China and Malaysia.

ZHAN Yilei, Director of the Center for International Collaboration of SRRSH, Chew Yee Yean, Deputy Director of UMMC, and Phang Kean Chang, Partnership Manager of Internationalisation Unit accompanied Dr. YU Hong, and Dr. Nazirah Binti Hasnan.

After signing the agreement, the Malaysian delegation visited SRRSH. Dr. Nazirah Binti Hasnan said that she admired the fact that it took only 29 years for SRRSH to become an exemplary, international, and modern benchmark hospital. At present the two institutions agree on the general direction of cooperation in disciplinary co-development of minimally invasive medicine, clinical remote consultation, innovative translational medicine, joint personnel training, etc.

The Malaysian delegation visited the Clinical Education Center of SRRSH, accompanied by Dr. LIN Ling, Director of the Medical Simulation Center.

On November 23, Dr. Ahmed Abdelrauof Abdelkader Elghiaty, Chair of Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Arab Association of Urology (AAU) visited SRRSH and signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Vice President Dr. YU Hong. Dr. Ahmed introduced that the AAU represents more than 5000 urologists in total from 22 Arab states. He believed that the cooperation is a valuable learning platform for Arabian urologists, through which more surgeons in Arabic-speaking countries can receive minimally invasive medicine training.

Dr. YU Hong and Dr. Ahmed

Dr. Ahemed, Vice President Dr. YU Hong, Vice President Dr. DING Guoqing, Dr. LI Gonghui, Director of Urology, Dr. CHEN Yicheng, Director of Quality Management Office gathered together for a group photo.

Previously, on the morning of November 11, Dr. Salma Anas Ibrahim, Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Health, Babagana Wakil, Minister in Embassy of Nigeria Beijing, together with Dr. Ahmad Jibril Baba, Senior Technical Assistant to the Special Adviser to the President on Health visited SRRSH. During the meeting, Dr. Salma consulted Dr. YU Hong on how to retain talents, how to make technological breakthroughs, and how to support grassroots medical institutions. The two sides engaged in a lively discussion.

The Nigerian delegation visited SRRSH.

After the meeting, Dr. Salma and other Nigerian delegates visited the model of Dual-utilization of Clinical and Epidemic Wards with intense interest in the hope that the design would be applied in Nigerian hospitals.

Then the delegation visited the minimally invasive skills training rooms in SRRSH’s Clinical Education Center, where the da Vinci Xi Surgical System attracted their attention. They asked how long it takes for a surgeon mastering the basics of laparoscopic techniques to learn the skill, showing great interest in SRRSH’s minimally invasive and robotic techniques training.

Dr. Salma tried a dry simulator and a suture disc training model.

Since 2020, as the vice chairman unit of the Belt & Road Health Professional Development Alliance, SRRSH has held international training courses in minimally invasive surgical techniques. In 2021, the hospital offered advanced online training on laparoscopic hepatectomy for 13 general surgeons from 10 medical institutions in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In 2022, the program attracted 24 domestic trainees and 114 foreign trainees from 25 medical institutions in 8 countries, spreading across 5 continents. 

Dr. CAI Xiujun, president of SRRSH, said that the hospital would continue to be a frontrunner in developing an efficient healthcare system, promoting high-caliber international exchanges and cooperation, and high-quality integrative development of healthcare, teaching, and research, as a way to contribute SRRSH’s efforts to “building a community of common health for mankind”.