Kohima, January 20 (MTNews): A one-day Technical Seminar on ‘Preparatory Survey on Nagaland Medical College Hospital Development Project’ was held at Hotel Vivor in Kohima today to improve the project’s efficacy. The seminar was designed to introduce the Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Nagaland Medical College Hospital to knowledge, technology, and good practices of Japan and other states as part of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Survey Team.

 

 

Commissioner & Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Y. Kikheto Sema, IAS, addressing the medical officers during the one-day technical seminar conducted by JICA survey team at Hotel Vivor, Kohima on January 20. (DIPR)

 

During the seminar, Y. Kikheto Sema, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, stated that Nagaland has a small population but has many issues due to its topographical and geographical location, and that health is one of the most important sectors that must be addressed.

 

“Now that the state is at peace and there is a project to establish a medical college, a good hospital is required,” he remarked.

 

He stated that for a Regional Institute or National Institute, the state would rely solely on Union Government loan assistance, as well as help from the Union Government and external agencies for a variety of reasons.

 

He stated that the first project with JICA was launched in 2015 with 533 crores, of which 115 crores have been availed in 2019 and that the project would end on March 31, 2027.

 

He thanked JICA for its assistance in establishing the 400-bed hospital and expressed hope that the project will be successful in both letter and spirit. He also stated that the state government’s greatest ambition was to provide inexpensive and equitable health care to its people, and he urged all officers to work together because the medical college would be useless without a hospital.

 

Sema also stated that he hoped that during the workshop, the members present will figure out the work distribution, what they want the government to do, and what the JICA team should do so that what is expected is met.

 

He also stated that the state has 608 district hospitals, CSCs, PSCs, and primary health centers and urged the department’s officers and staff to attend to the needs of the people, particularly in rural areas.

 

Because the infrastructures of these hospitals and centers are in poor condition, he asked the JICA team if they could take on such smaller projects as well and extended the offer to any individuals or organizations in the state.

 

Keiko Nagai, Team Leader, JICA Survey Team, highlighted the project objective, its component, the target area, Concerned Agencies, preparatory survey, the three accessibilities to be improved for UHC, and also, the schedule of the preparation stage for 2023 in her keynote address through a PowerPoint presentation on ‘Preparatory Survey on Nagaland Medical College Hospital Development Project’. She also emphasized the JICA and ODA loan, as well as applicable Japanese technology and experiences for the project.

 

Prof. Kenji Wada, Faculty of Chemistry for Medicine, Kagawa University, highlighted the contents of the lessons one can learn from JICA Advanced Training for AIIMS and relevant Institutes through a powerpoint presentation, while Dr. Yoshihisa Yamazaki and Yukari Oshima, Medical Human Resources Development Expert, JICA Survey Team, explained on the examples of Clinical Training in Teaching Hospitals in Japan.

 

The Technical Seminar was attended by a nine-member JICA Survey Team.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *