Members of the Chinese expert team attend a video conference in Baghdad, Iraq, April 2, 2020. The Chinese expert team in Iraq on Thursday hosted a video conference in the Iraqi capital to exchange experience on the prevention and control of COVID-19. The conference was joined by representatives of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, the Red Cross Society of China, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). (Xinhua/Zhang Miao)
BEIJING/BAGHDAD, April 3 (Xinhua) --The Chinese expert team in Iraq on Thursday hosted a video conference in the Iraqi capital to exchange experience on the prevention and control of COVID-19.
The conference was joined by representatives of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, the Red Cross Society of China, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Chen Zhu, vice president of the IFRC and president of the Red Cross Society of China, who participated in the online conference in Beijing, first thanked Iraq for providing masks and other medical aid to China during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Asian country.
He said the Chinese experts are working closely with Iraq to share their anti-pandemic knowledge, formulate prevention and control measures, help Iraq improve coronavirus diagnosis capacities, as well as provide treatment plans to the country.
"I'd like to thank the expert team for your wonderful work by strengthening diagnosis capacity, disseminating knowledge and skills of prevention and control, and bringing useful treatment protocols to colleagues in Iraq," Chen said.
He said that the Red Cross Society of China will also provide medical screening equipment and personal protective equipment to Iraq.
Yasin Ahmed Abbas, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, said, "What you have presented to Iraq is very valuable and your experts did their best, and they just transferred their excellent experience in fighting this unknown enemy."
While facing the common enemy of the coronavirus, Abbas thanked the Chinese side for providing much-needed assistance to the Iraqi health system and the Chinese expert team for their valuable prevention and control experience.
"We are also very grateful for your response to Iraqi health system needs," he said.
Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic is raging around the world, Abbas also told the video conference that countries around the world have set their sights on China's experience in containing the virus.
"I'm sure everybody in the world is looking at your experience, with which you managed to defeat this enemy," he added.
For his part, Han Mengjie, a member of the expert team and an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in order to control the spread of the coronavirus, the Iraqi central and local governments have taken important measures, such as closing borders, imposing curfews, and restricting inter-provincial transportation.
However, he said that Iraq is still facing challenges such as effective community mobilization and a lack of testing kits.
Chinese Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao said that the Chinese team of experts has visited several provinces in Iraq and exchanged and shared prevention and control experience and carried out training sessions there, which not only helped stabilize the pandemic situation in Iraq, but also promote China-Iraq relations and bilateral cooperation.
Farid Abdulkadir, director of the Iraqi office of the IFRC, and ICRC representatives in Geneva and Baghdad, also spoke during the session, affirming the importance of Chinese experience in fighting the pandemic.
After the video conference, the Chinese experts also conducted video training for staff and volunteers of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.
As of Thursday, the Iraqi Health Ministry reported a total of 772 cases of COVID-19, 54 of whom have died and 202 others who have recovered.
To help Iraq cope with COVID-19, the seven-strong Chinese medical team has been working with their Iraqi counterparts since March 7.
