Responding to the huge damages brought about by the tragic Beirut Port blast, JICA’s Alumni Association in Lebanon initiated and implemented a project to equip the blood bank laboratory of Beirut Governmental University Hospital in Quarantina. The project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) includes the procurement of needed equipment and PPE material as well as the organization of 2 training workshops, and aims to ensure the continuation of quality medical services to the most vulnerable patients during the Covid-19 pandemic and the multiple crisis Lebanon is facing.
On July 30, 2021, which marked the end of the 3 day technical training workshop, a handover ceremony took place that was attended by H.E. Mr Takeshi Okubo, Japan’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr Mohammed Jarrah, Head of the Governmental Hospitals Oversight Unit and Mr Antoine Romanos, Head of the Medical Professions Unit from the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Michel Matar, President of the Board and Ms Karen Saqr, Director of the Beirut Governmental University Hospital Quarantina, Mr Kamal Mokdad, Treasurer and former President of LEBA-JICA, and JICA’s Coordinator in Lebanon. During the ceremony, H.E. Mr Okubo presented the Ministry of Public Health’s Representative Mr Jarrah with an official handover letter detailing the list of donated equipment that totalled USD 175,000. He asserted the commitment of Japan in supporting the Lebanese people and refugees in accessing quality health services, in light of the huge challenges the medical sector is witnessing in Lebanon, adding that “health care facilities are the cornerstone of each society”. Mr Mokdad thanked JICA and the Japanese Embassy for their continuous support and trust, and thanked the hospital’s management and Dr Kfouri from the Ministry of Public Health for facilitating and coordinating the project. JICA’s Chief Representative, Ms Chie Miyahara, relayed her message assuring JICA’s support in joining efforts with the Lebanese people and its institutions to build a more resilient public health sector, and informed all present of JICA’s continuity in this regard with an upcoming project to empower the staff of 242 Primary Health Care Centres. She wished that such support would ‘become another achievement to tighten the relationship between Lebanon and Japan’.
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- http://nna-leb.gov.lb/ar/show-news/557393/nna-leb.gov.lb/en
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- https://addiyar.com/article/1922157-%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A...
- https://www.almarkazia.com/ar/news/show/334763/%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%8A%...
- https://www.alkalimaonline.com/Newsdet.aspx?id=591276
