Volunteers help to cure ills at home and abroad

A growing number of medical professionals are offering their services to aid those most in need. Wang Xiaodong reports.

After working at a large, well-equipped hospital in Beijing, Chao Shuang could not have been more astonished by the conditions in Conakry, capital of Guinea, and the China-Guinea Friendship Hospital during her first visit to the West African country.

"I was prepared for the worst before I set out, but it turned out to be worse than I expected," she said. "There are virtually no roads in the city. The hospitals, even major ones in the capital, are in dire need of basic equipment. Some of the testing equipment was made in the 1970s, so most of us had no idea how to use the machines."