A healthcare technician checks medical equipment, which is part of a donation made by JICA worth more than US$456,000 to the Hue Central Hospital yesterday, April 9 - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated medical equipment to the Hue Central Hospital in the central province of Thua Thien Hue on April 9 to support the hospital combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

The equipment included an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, a mobile digital X-ray machine and a color Doppler ultrasound machine, which have a combined value of 50 million yen (over US$456,000), according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Addressing the handover ceremony, Yakabe Yoshinori, Head of the Japanese Consulate Office in Danang City, spoke highly of the Hue Central Hospital’s efforts in providing sufficient and quality healthcare services to residents in the central region, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yoshinori expressed his hope that the equipment donated by JICA will help the hospital effectively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and improve the quality of its medical services.

Professor Doctor Pham Nhu Hiep, director of the Hue Central Hospital, thanked the Japanese Government and JICA for supporting the hospital over the years and their contributions to Covid-19 infection prevention and control in Vietnam as well as Hue and the central region in particular.

JICA has carried out many programs to support the Hue Central Hospital over the past 17 years, including a US$27,243 project to upgrade the infrastructure of the hospital and another project to improve the quality of human resources for the healthcare system in the 2010-2015 period.

On the same day, the Hue Central Hospital signed a cooperation agreement with Vinbrain, an Artificial Intelligence software supplier in the healthcare sector, to enhance the application of information technology in the services offered by the hospital.