Chinese medical team trains Tanzanian staff in difficult-airway care and coordinates donation of two bronchoscopes

The 28th Chinese medical team to mainland Tanzania trained staff at Muhimbili National Hospital in managing difficult airways on 19 October, and Liu Jia, the team's leader and an anaesthesiology expert, coordinated the donation of two video fibre-optic bronchoscopes to the hospital's anaesthesiology department, Xinhua reported in a dispatch dated 20 October.

Liu led the training in awake fibre-optic bronchoscopic intubation for patients with difficult airways. The sessions covered clinical indications, cleaning and disinfection of the equipment, operating safety and hands-on technique.

The procedure secures a patient's airway before general anaesthesia. Xinhua said it can lower the risk of life-threatening complications in patients such as those with burn injuries and facial deformities.

Lukansola Mabusi, head of the hospital's anaesthesiology department, welcomed the training and the equipment donation, saying they addressed critical gaps in the hospital's capacity to manage difficult airways. Liu said the work reflects growing health cooperation between China and Tanzania, and that the team will keep providing technical training and equipment support.

The 28th team took over from the 27th at a handover ceremony in Dar es Salaam on 8 April, Xinhua reported at the time. It has 15 members, specialising in fields such as anaesthesiology, neurosurgery and cardiovascular surgery.

The Shandong news site Shandong Peninsula Net reported on 28 August that the Shandong provincial health commission selected the team, that its 15 members arrived in Tanzania on 6 April, and that they work in five hospitals in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Mbeya. The site described Liu as deputy head of an anaesthesiology ward at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University. It said he carried out the first awake fibre-optic intubation of its kind locally, and is leading plans for a difficult-airway training centre for East Africa.