Taiwan Can Help | Central Hospital of República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe

República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe, a country that is unfamiliar to most Taiwanese people, is located in the far west of Africa. It consists of two small islands standing in the Atlantic Ocean in the southeastern Gulf of Guinea, Sao Tome Island and Principe. It consists of Sibi Island. The entire terrain is composed of volcanic lava. It is about 201 kilometers away from the African continent. It faces Gabon to the east and Equatorial Guinea to the northeast. The two islands have a total land area of about 1,001 square kilometers Sao Tome The island (859 square kilometers, Principe Island 142 square kilometers) is about one-sixth of the land area of Taiwan, with a population of less than 200,000. It was a Portuguese colony, so the official language is Portuguese. At that time, the Holy Kingdom was one of the four friendly countries on the African continent that maintained formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also formulated various cooperation plans to improve local infrastructure, including education, transportation, communications, electricity, agriculture, animal husbandry, and Professional teams in malaria, medical and other fields are stationed locally to assist the governments and people of friendly countries to improve the quality of life and consolidate friendship.

At the end of 2010, first time, Chong Wai received a letter from the head of the medical team (this year, we had just completed a foreign aid project in Burkina Faso, West Africa - the 600-bed Gong Baole Memorial Hospital in the capital Ouagadougou). The mission leader's letter mentioned the plight of this medical team in this area. Although there are professional medical teams, medical supplies and equipments from Taiwan, this country has not had modern medical construction since independence, and the power supply is unstable. The only existing large hospital, the Central Hospital, is also old and unfit for use due to neglect of maintenance and updates. There is an urgent need for an experienced professional team to go to this country to assist with interviews, design planning, and evaluate construction costs to prepare the required budget.

So Chong Wei took over the work of the medical team at Taipei Medical University, officially launched this project, and actively held several discussion meetings. In early 2011, our team first time stepped in the land of Sao Tome and Principe, and worked with the medical team, and The medical units of the Central Hospital conducted intensive interviews and carried out site survey and measurement of the Central Hospital Emergency Center, the target building for reconstruction.

Our team went back and forward to this country several times within a year to adjust the design and conduct interviews and discussions. With the strong support and assistance of the embassy of Taiwan and the medical team, our team finally officially signed a contract with the Ministry of Health of República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe at the end of 2011 to start implementing this project. We transported more than 15 containers from Taiwan to República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe. The construction, water, electricity, air conditioning and medical teams from Taiwan spent nearly 1.5 years, and after three medical team leaders, they finally completed the renovation of the Emergency Center of the Central Hospital.

The project solves the power, water supply and drainage, roof structure reinforcement and leakage problems that have plagued the hospital for many years in old buildings built during the Portuguese colonial era. It also adds a rain screen that is both beautiful and practical. It builds two operating rooms of the same level as those in Taiwan. Dust-free operating rooms, modern emergency observation beds, digital X-ray photography systems, and inspection centers include the provision of related instruments and equipment, medical gas supply systems, backup generator systems...etc., and also provide follow-up education, training, maintenance...etc.

The efforts of Chong Wai teams provide an advanced and complete medical environment and space, allowing professional medical staffs from Taiwan to use their talents to serve the poor people of São Tomé and Principe who are seriously need in medical care.

During this period, we also evaluated and planned other rural health clinics and hospital reconstruction projects, such as the Principe Provincial Hospital, Mountain Coffee Hospital, the Maternal and Child Hospital, and the reconstruction of the Joint Outpatient Center in the urban area. Each plan will be prepared and budgeted according to priority and implemented in sequence.

After completing the reconstruction project of the Emergency Center of the Central Hospital, our team quickly moved in a reconstruction project of the joint outpatient center in the urban area. At the same time, we purchased an old CT in Taiwan and completely built it here in a very short time. It is the first and only CT in República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe.