The team, composed of doctors and other healthcare staff, was assembled by the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) -- the Taiwan government's overseas aid arm.

The mission, headed by ICDF senior project manager Chen Chih-fu, conducted a similar operation in the same areas of India in February.

"The previous mission was received enthusiastically, and at the request of the Darjeeling local government and individual citizens there, we have decided to offer free treatment in the region again," said Chen, a dentist who has led many medical missions around the world over the past years.

"This time around, we will visit remote tribal settlements and villages that we did not stop at in February," Chen told the CNA during a dinner hosted by Taiwan's Representative to India Philip Ong Sunday in honor of the team members.

Located at an elevation of 2,200 meters, Darjeeling is a noted summer resort that has a population of about 300,000. But Darjeeling and neighboring Sikkim are spread over large mountainous areas where there are many remote hard-to-reach villages that have limited medical and healthcare resources.

According to Chen, the current medical group is carrying enough medical supplies and equipment to treat up to 3,000 people during its two-week mission.

"We will donate unused pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies to local Indian healthcare institutions at the end of our mission, " Chen said.

In addition to treating patients, he said, the training of local healthcare staff is also part of the mission. "We will help them develop a healthcare service network to make up for the shortage of medical professionals in remote villages," Chen explained.

The ICDF team is composed of six doctors in internal medicine, family medicine, gynecology, dentistry and surgery, as well as two nurses, one pharmacist, a public health administrator and three volunteers, including former Department of Health Minister Lee Ming-liang.

The group is scheduled to wrap up its mission and return to New Delhi Dec.6.

(By Paul Kuo and Sofia Wu)