Mbabane, Swaziland, April 16 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Monday that Taiwan will develop a new approach to providing medical assistance to its diplomatic allies, so they can benefit more from Taiwan's expertise.

"We're hoping for a new approach in the way of offering medical assistance, so we can serve more people in the countries," Ma said.

Ma, who is currently visiting Swaziland, the last stop of his three-nation African tour that has already taken him to Burkina Faso and The Gambia, said Taiwan has provided equipment and facilities over the past two decades, but it needs to come up with a more efficient way to help allies benefit more.

"After returning to Taiwan, we'll start to discuss how to develop an approach to assist the nations," Ma said during a meeting with Swaziland Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini.

The president stressed that Taiwan will also help nurture allies' medical personnel and not just provide equipment and facilities.

He added that he had seen common demands and different challenges during his visit to the three countries.

Later the same day, Ma visited intensive care wards and thedialysis center at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital.

Doctors at the hospital told Ma that there were no neurosurgeons at the hospital and it couldn't handle patients with head injuries.

They added that there were also no CT scanners and asked for assistance from Taiwan.

(By Lee Shu-hua and Lilian Wu)
Enditem/npw