The moment a stethoscope is put on her chest, three-year-old little Gangga’s eyes grow full of fear, and she began to cry. This little girl from Longri Township in Hongyuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province was brought by her mother to receive a free medical screening for congenital heart disease as part of the “One Heart: Shaping the Chinese Heart” project.

“Don’t cry, it’ll be okay. Come, have some sweets, relax…” Zhao Tao, the secretary-general of the Organizational Committee for the “Shaping the Chinese Heart” project softly comforts the little girl while listening attentively to the subtle sounds through the stethoscope. He listens and starts to frown, saying to little Gangga’s mother, “There’s a noise. It’s not very optimistic, but I’ll still need to do a B ultrasonography test for further confirmation."

Then he quickly turns to the accompanying staff member and says, “Must be brought back to Hongyuan County Hospital to be checked, if the diagnosis is confirmed, must be brought to Beijing for a free operation.”

On July 7, with the guidance of the Central United Front Work Department, Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, and the Medical Management and Services Center of National Health Planning Commission , the country’s largest medical health charity project titled “One Heart: Shaping the Chinese Heart” and annual charity tour “Retracing the Road of the Long March: Shaping the Chinese Heart” was launched in Aba in Sichuan Province.

Since the charity tour began last week, more than 600 volunteer medical professionals from around the country were sent to six counties and 35 villages, revisiting the mountains and grasslands from the Red Army’s Long March, making donations, conducting clinical rounds, providing medical training, screening children for congenital heart disease, conducting research into endemic diseases… bringing warmth, confidence, and strength to the Tibetans in these areas and exemplifying the love of the doctors.

Garang Geleg is a 28-year-old man that medical personnel encountered during their clinical rounds. When they meet him in Longri Village in Longri Township, Hongyuan County, he was slumped against the doorway in a daze, and both his legs were swollen, making movement difficult. He had just come back from Chengdu 10 days before, and nearly five months of medical treatment there had almost made him bankrupt. “I had five operations, spending more than 400,000 yuan. I sold all the family cows, but I still owe 300,000 yuan in debt,” Garang Geleg said anxiously.

Internal infectious disease physician Yin Chenhong from the Beijing Gynecology and Obstetrics Hospital asked in detail about the specifics of his disease, and after repeatedly inspecting his legs, made treatment recommendations, giving him the correct medications and telling him to take good care of himself.

When the specialists learn that a cow costs 3,000 yuan in Longri Township, under the leadership of Yin Chenhong, everyone lends a hand and donates 3,000 yuan, hoping to gradually improve the life of Garang Geleg.

As a common endemic disease, hydatid disease has continuously affected the health of the local population, and endemic disease prevention is the top priority for this “Shaping the Chinese Heart”project. On July 8, the country’s largest and the army’s only infectious disease hospital, No.302 PLA Hospital, named the Zogye County People’s Hospital as the “Hydatid Disease Prevention Base”, opening a local hydatid disease prevention “green channel”.

“Primary care doctors will have the opportunity to go to Beijing to learn about the most advanced technology in preventing and controlling hydatid disease and to become hydatid disease specialists,” said Ji Junsheng, president of the No.302 PLA Hospital. He said that through the establishment of the base, both sides will be able to cooperate on hydatid outbreaks, personnel training, scientific research, and other aspects, striving to get rid of the problems of hydatid disease for rural Tibetans.

Within a week, ultrasound specialists, infections specialists, dermatologists, and others from No.302 PLA Hospital conducted screenings for hydatid disease in Zogye County. In clinics in Maixi Township in Zogye County, Li Zhiyan, director of ultrasounds at No. 302 PLA Hospital, gave an ultrasound examination to 13-year-old Drolma, while also spreading general knowledge about preventing hydatid disease: “Wash your hands often, and don’t sleep with animals.”

In another clinical room, Jiang Tianjun, deputy director of the Infectious Disease Treatment and Research Center of No.302 PLA Hospital, is currently making a further diagnosis for a hydatid patient. He said, “Hydatid disease prevention requires a comprehensive set of screenings, diagnoses, and treatment processes. With our advanced equipment and treatment methods, we will promote early diagnosis and early treatment of hydatid disease.”