China sends relief efforts to Philippines

Super Typhoon Haiyan has revealed a surprising lack of public health services in many coastal villages in the central Philippines.

Local residents said the city has been in desperate need of more public hospitals even before the deadly disaster.

As a result, when a group of Chinese doctors from the Red Cross team arrived in San Jose on its first day, the team was greeted by hundreds of children running fevers and seniors suffering from chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and asthma.

The Chinese team arrived in a timely manner because the rainy season of the Philippines is impending. Senior citizens have been ignored by local medical staff because there were far more children desperate for treatment.

By Monday, the Chinese Red Cross team had treated 1,665 local residents since its mission started on Nov 24.

It took more than three hours each day for the Chinese medics to commute from their camp to the disaster-ridden villages.

To eliminate language barriers and inform their patients how to take the medicines provided, the doctors have tried to learn simple local vocabulary, writing down equivalent Chinese syllables to help them memorize the sounds.

Reporter: Zhang Yunbi

Video: Lou Yi & Andrew Xing

Project manager: Andrew Xing

Producer: Flora Yue