A delegation of 26 doctors, nurses and specialists from the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corp (TRMPC, 台灣路竹會) left for Liberia yesterday to provide medical services for the next two weeks to the African nation as part of its effort to give something back to the international community.
The TRMPC, a civil medical organization that has offered regular medical services to Taiwan's Aboriginal peoples living in remote areas since 1995, also sent a team of 26 staffers to offer medical aid to Kosovar refugees in Macedonia last April.
Liu Ming-chun (劉啟群), president of TRMPC, said the delegation would stay in the southeast part of Liberia from Feb. 7 to Feb. 20.
"The region is what John Cummings, the Liberian Ambassador to Taipei, dubbed as a place only God [referring to Christian missionaries] has visited before," Liu said.
Liu, who had spent two weeks in Liberia last year to evaluate the possibility of offering medical services to the African country, said the region was chosen because of its need for urgent medical assistance as compared to other parts of the country.
"After consulting Liberian officials, we decided to focus on the region where medical resources are most lacking," he said.
The group would offer medical diagnoses for local residents as well as public health education on AIDS prevention and common diseases in the country such as cholera and malaria, Liu said.
As part of its AIDS prevention plan, the delegation would also evaluate the extent to which Liberians accept contraception before purchasing condoms in Taiwan and shipping them to the African country, Liu added.
Among the 31 million people worldwide who have been diagnosed with AIDS or with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, over two-thirds live in Africa, according to UN statistics.
The TRMPC delegation is composed of six doctors, six nurses, three professors in the areas of parasite studies, public health and ethnology, one pharmacist, one medical examiner, as well as voluntary workers and reporters.
The delegation is scheduled to offer medical services to Tibetan refugee camps scattered in northern India from March 25 to April 2.
The visit to India was prompted by an invitation from the India-based Tibetan government in exile to offer medical services to Tibetans living there, Liu said.
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