A one-day technical seminar on ‘Preparatory Survey on Nagaland Medical College Hospital Development Project’ was conducted at Hotel Vivor in Kohima today.
According to a DIPR report, the seminar was held to enhance the effectiveness of the project by introducing the knowledge, technology and good practices of Japan and other states to the Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Nagaland Medical College Hospital under the JICA Survey Team.
Commissioner & Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, said the population of Nagaland is less but faces a lot of challenges due to its topographical and geographical condition, and health is one of the most important sectors that need to be addressed.
Now with peace prevailing in the state and the project to have a medical college set up, a good hospital is needed, he said and added that for a regional institute or national institute, the state would depend only on loan assistance from the Union government and also support from the Union government and external agencies for various reasons.
Kikheto Sema mentioned that the first project with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was initiated in 2015 with 533 crore, out of which 115 crore have been availed in 2019. He also informed that the project would wind up on 31 March 2027.
He thanked JICA for coming forward to help set up the 400 bedded hospital and was hopeful that the project would be successful in letter as well as in spirit.
He also said the burning desire of the state government was to provide affordable and equitable health service to its people and therefore called upon all officers to come together as without a hospital, the medical college would be of no use.
Kikheto Sema also said through the workshop, he hoped the members present should work out the work distribution, see what they want the government to do, and also what the JICA team should do so that what is expected is achieved.
Stating that there are 608 district hospitals, CSCs, PSCs, and primary health centres across the state, he called upon the officers and staff of the department to see to the needs of the people, especially in the rural areas. Pointing out that the infrastructures of these hospitals and centres are in bad shape, he requested the JICA team to see if they could take up such smaller projects too and also put out the offer to any individuals or organisation of the state.
The team leader of the JICA Survey Team, Keiko Nagai, in her keynote address gave a PowerPoint presentation on ‘Preparatory Survey on Nagaland Medical College Hospital Development Project’ and highlighted the project objective, its component, the target area, Concerned Agencies, preparatory survey, the three accessibility to be improved for UHC and schedule of the preparation stage for 2023.
Nagai also highlighted the JICA and Official Development Aid (ODA) Loan and Applicable Japanese Technology and Experiences for the project.
Professor, Faculty of Chemistry for Medicine, Kagawa University, Prof Kenji Wada, through a power point presentation highlighted the contents of the lessons one can learn from JICA Advanced Training for AIIMS and relevant Institutes.
Medical Human Resources Development Expert, JICA Survey Team, Dr Yoshihisa Yamazaki and Yukari Oshima explained the examples of Clinical Training in Teaching Hospital in Japan.
A nine-member JICA Survey Team participated in the Technical Seminar.
