In brief
In Zanzibar, 38‑year‑old Leila Salum Kanyinyi ended a year of debilitating pain after Chinese doctors performed a complex laparoscopic ureter reconstruction. The operation, carried out at Lumumba Hospital with equipment donated by China, also trained local surgeons and highlighted growing China‑Tanzania health cooperation.
Leila Salum Kanyinyi, a 38‑year‑old mother of three from Meli Nne in Urban West Region on Unguja Island, said she feels like she has been given a new life after Chinese doctors performed a complex laparoscopic ureter reconstruction at Zanzibar’s Lumumba Hospital on Oct. 30.
Kanyinyi told Xinhua that for a year she suffered intense pain in her lower back and abdomen, earning the name of her condition, a narrowing of the right ureter, from doctors who first examined her at the hospital.
She described the worst of her pain as keeping her “lying down” and unable to care for her children, and said she had been exhausted and unable to support her family.
When her condition proved more complicated than expected, the local medical team turned to the 36th Chinese medical team in Zanzibar. Wang Wei, a urological specialist and leader of that team, inspected the case and devised a surgical plan that would use a minimally invasive laparoscopic Boari flap ureteroneocystostomy, which rebuilds the damaged section of the ureter from tissue taken from the bladder. The procedure, he explained, avoids the greater trauma and longer recovery associated with open surgery.
The operation was carried out with laparoscopic equipment that China had donated to the hospital, and Wang used the occasion to train local surgeons. He explained the surgical anatomy, operative steps, and ways to prevent and manage complications to the on‑site medical staff, including Dr. Gideon Safiel Mwasakyalo of Lumumba Hospital, who said the practice exposed the local team to a high‑skill procedure that they could now replicate.
After the surgery, Kanyinyi stated that the pain had stopped and she could move and care for her children as before; she praised the Chinese doctors for the “first‑class” medical care despite the complexity of the case.
The experience underscores the growing partnership between China and Tanzania in health services. The China–Tanzania cooperation includes the 36th medical team’s willingness to offer advanced surgical techniques and equipment and to build local capacity through on‑the‑job training.
While the operation’s success for Kanyinyi is clear, several questions remain. It is not yet known how many other patients will receive similar laparoscopic ureter reconstructions in Zanzibar, whether the procedure will become a routine alternative to open surgery for such conditions, and what long‑term follow‑up will reveal about the patient’s recovery and potential complications.
In addition, the exact number of local doctors trained, information about the durability of the bladder patch used in the Boari flap, and plans for scaling this technique to other hospitals in Tanzania are still pending disclosure from the 36th Chinese medical team and the Ministry of Health.
