China has dispatched a breast-surgery specialist to work at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara, partnering with local clinicians to establish the country’s first dedicated breast-care unit and deliver hands-on clinical training.

Dr Zhang Shiyong, an Associate Chief Physician in breast surgery, was deployed as part of the 5th China Medical Team in response to an urgent request from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS).

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignant tumour affecting women in Solomon Islands, with ministry data showing roughly 128 new diagnoses and 47 deaths annually.

The high fatality rate remains a major public health challenge across the nation, driven largely by late-stage detection and historically limited local treatment options.

Before the initiative began, Solomon Islands lacked a dedicated breast-surgery service and formal, standardised protocols for managing breast tumours.

Without local specialist care, patients requiring curative surgery were forced to seek treatment overseas at significant expense, often missing critical windows for intervention due to logistical delays.

Upon arrival, Dr Shiyong assessed local conditions and established routine breast-surgery services at NRH, closing a long-standing gap in specialist surgical oncology.

“The program places a heavy emphasis on skills transfer,” a statement from the China Medical Team said.

“Working under the leadership of Dr Rooney Jagilly, Head of General Surgery at NRH, Dr Zhang has provided systematic training to one local consultant surgeon and two surgical residents, covering clinical evaluation, diagnosis, and surgical techniques,” the statement said.

“Through this clinical mentoring, the two resident doctors can now independently perform minimally invasive periareolar procedures for benign breast tumours,” it added.

“Under Dr Zhang’s direct supervision, local surgeons have also successfully conducted modified radical mastectomies for malignant cases, expanding Solomon Islands’ domestic surgical capacity.”

The hospital now operates a dedicated breast clinic every Thursday morning, with Mondays reserved for surgical operations.

To date, the team has performed more than 20 curative mastectomies, enabling patients to receive critical, life-saving surgery at home.

Clinical attendance remains consistently high, with 15 to 30 patients presenting each week.

Between 10.5% and 25% of attendees are diagnosed with breast malignancies, the majority presenting at advanced stages of the disease.

Given infrastructure constraints that require pathological specimens to be sent abroad for testing, the statement said breast-conserving surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsies are not yet routinely feasible.

“As a result, modified radical mastectomy remains the standard surgical approach.

“For patients presenting with advanced disease who cannot undergo immediate surgery, the team conducts multidisciplinary reviews and initiates neoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink tumours and downstage the disease before re-evaluating them for surgical resection.”

Working alongside local medical staff, Dr Zhang continues to develop an integrated clinical pathway spanning screening, outpatient consultations, operative care, and post-surgical follow-up.

Through bedside rounds and intra-operative mentoring, the project aims to leave behind a self-sustaining breast cancer management framework that strengthens the Solomon Islands healthcare system.