Professor Therese Hesketh. (COURTESY PHOTO)

By BI Weizi & LONG Yun

Professor Therese Hesketh is both deputy director of the Global Health Center at Zhejiang University and a researcher of the Institute of Global Health at University College London. Hesketh graduated from medical school in 1983 and received her PhD in 2001.

 She came to China in 1986 as a clinician and manager for NGOs, WHO and UNICEF, leading the establishment of the first pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in the cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Xi'an. 

In 2016, she was invited to establish a Center for Global Health at Zhejiang University to provide constructive advice in the field of health for cooperation between China and other countries.

She spoke to Science and Technology Daily recently about her decades of first-hand experience of the amazing progress that has taken place in China, especially in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, and described how a combination of economic growth and sci-tech development has led to this progress.

China's first NICU center

The fact that many children were dying from conditions that could have been treated, motivated Hesketh to come to China with an NGO and lead a team to build the first-ever neonatal intensive care unit. Over the next several years, despite the challenges of the difficult living and working conditions, she was actively involved in developing basic neonatal care protocols for eleven of China's provinces, as well as other programs such as immunization, malaria control, and safe motherhood. Her team's hard work paid off, as Hangzhou's maternal and infant mortality rates dropped significantly, even below many U.S. cities.

"As a foreigner in my early days, children were actually quite afraid of me in children's hospital, because they had never heard someone speaking a foreign language before," she recalled. Today foreigners are a common sight in China.

The biggest change she has seen in the health of the population is the survival rate of newborn babies. "When I first came to China, many babies died prematurely. But now the survival rate has improved tremendously," she said, adding that China has been a leader in developing cost-effective solutions to problems like keeping babies warm.

Sixty years of Chinese medical aid teams abroad

With the rapid development of its economy, China began to take the lead in helping developing countries and regions.

Hesketh said that 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of China sending medical teams to support health services abroad. "In the UK, we would almost never do long projects, like a 50-year project, whereas the Chinese projects have been going on for many decades," said Hesketh, adding that this program is popular with local people because it is reliable and they know that Chinese doctors won't just disappear.

She has previously been to Mali with a Chinese medical team trying to improve two things: children's health and women's access to contraception. The harsh living conditions and difficult political situation there posed a serious risk to the team's security, but they persevered in their efforts to save lives, treat disease, make new friends, and promote goodwill throughout the country. Hesketh is deeply impressed by the Chinese doctors' unwavering dedication, sense of duty and exemplary expertise.

International cooperation key to solving global problems

As the world faces common crises, from pandemics to pollution, the answer is to come together despite differences. "The biggest challenges we face as a planet have to be addressed through international cooperation. There's no question about that," said Hesketh, citing COVID-19 and carbon emissions as examples. International cooperation is key to tackling public health crises and strengthening health systems by emphasizing universal health coverage for sustainable and equitable development.

She also praised China's active role in mitigating climate change, saying, "The global community is not meeting carbon emission targets. But China is on track to meet the clean energy target five years ahead of schedule."

Hesketh was awarded the title  of  "2018 Honorary Citizen of Hangzhou" in recognition of her contributions to the city's economic and social development, which has motivated her to continue contributing to the health of Chinese people. "I really like working in China. So I would definitely be staying in China in the future," she said.

This article is also contributed by WU Yeping from Zhejiang University.