Israel to train doctors for China: Consul General

Israel will help train Chinese medical workers for the underdeveloped southwestern regions in its program to aid China next year, according to the Israeli Consulate General in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

In 2016, doctors from Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces will have opportunities to study medicine in Israel, said Amir Lati, consul general with the Consulate General of Israel in Chengdu.

He made the announcement at an event for Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation (Mashav) in Chengdu Friday.

Mashav is a part of Israel's Foreign Affair Ministry which is in charge of international cooperation via knowledge sharing and capacity building.

China has made great progress in infrastructure construction in its medical sector, but still needs state-of-the-art technology to better treat patients, said Dr. Moris Topaz, a plastic surgeon from the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.

Topaz is widely respected by his Chinese colleagues for helping treat victims of a powerful earthquake that shook Sichuan Province in 2008. He introduced technology that spared many patients from amputation and reduced antibiotic dosages and inflammation risks.

"I believe the best way for us to open the door between the two nations in the future is medical cooperation," he said.

Since it was established in 1957, Mashav has trained more than 270,000 people from across the world in diverse sectors including agriculture, medicine, education and rural and urban development.