Expeditiously Formed After the Quake: China’s First Medical Expert Team Combining Government and Private Forces

2008年-05月-20日来源：MEBO

May 20, 2008, ChinaNews.Com:

Today a medical aid team formed by wound experts from the private sector is sent to the earthquake areas in Sichuan Province. This team is expeditiously formed after the massive earthquakes and led by Rongxiang Xu, M.D., China’s leading expert in the areas of burns, wounds and ulcers, director of Science and Technology Center for Burns, Wounds and Ulcers in China, and chairman of the board of MEBO International. For the first time in the history of modern China, a medical team from the private sector has been incorporated into the government’s medical task force sent to the disaster areas and under the command of China Ministry of Health. Along with their expertise in wound healing, the team also carries 20 million RMB worth of medical products and a fund of 5 million RMB, both provided by MEBO International.

Dr. Xu decided to take action after seeing that doctors sent by the government were overwhelmed and exhausted by the fast growing number of wounded people in the disaster areas. To reduce the financial burdens to the government, Dr. Xu decided to allow MEBO to provide funds and products to support a team of 235 wound experts in the network of the Chinese Burn Association of the Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine (CBAIM) and National Medical Network of Burns, Wounds and Ulcers in China.

Funded by MEBO and led by Dr. Xu, this team entitled “China Wound Expert Team for Earthquake Rescue and Disaster Relief” sent their request yesterday to the Ministry of Health, asking to be sent to the earthquake areas. Today the Ministry of Health decided to incorporate this team into the medical aid force provided by the government. To ensure effective application of the wound treatment technologies provided by the team, the 37 sub-teams from this team will be incorporated separately into various medical aid teams formed by the government at the provincial or municipal levels and under the command of the government. The China Wound Expert Team will be mainly in charge of general supervision and support of the wound treatment. Relevant divisions of MEBO will provide specialty medical products needed for the treatment and related support.

Previously, MEBO International, a global enterprise of pharmaceuticals and medical research founded by Dr. Xu, donated about 3.6 million RMB-worth of products for emergency treatment of wounds on May 13, one day after the earthquakes struck. Dr. Xu personally donated 1 million RMB to people in the disaster areas. To ensure sufficient and timely aid to the disaster areas in Sichuan, MEBO decided to temporarily suspend the planned export of 100 tons, $50 million worth of emergency wound treatment products, which would be used by the joint task force sent to the earthquake areas.