Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe congratulates Dr. Jose Cabasagan Chan of Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) after signing the grant contract for “The Project for the Installation of Mechanical Ventilators in Northern Mindanao Medical Center” on November 8, 2011 at the Embassy of Japan. The ceremony was witnessed by the representatives from NMMC and the Embassy of Japan. |
Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe and Dr. Jose Cabasagan Chan, Chief of Hospital III of Northern Mindanao Medical Center, signed the grant contract for “The Project for the Installation of Mechanical Ventilators in Northern Mindanao Medical Center” on November 8, 2011 at the Embassy of Japan. The project, amounting to US$112,869 (approximately 4.8 million pesos), is funded through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects ( GGP ).
Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) is the only general hospital in Region 10 that is authorized to educate and train medical personnel. It serv es patients from Cagayan de Oro City as well as the neighboring provinces with more than 80,000 patients per year on average . It is a 300-bed capacity hospital that provides free health care delivery service particularly for the depressed, underserved and underprivileged sectors in Northern Mindanao.
At present, the Department of Medicine of the hospital does not have a functioning mechanical ventilator and has to rely only on a mbu bags which do not necessarily provide patients with adequate assistance in their breathing.
With the grant assistance, Northern Mindanao Medical Center will procure four units of mechanical ventilators to alleviate the condition of around 500 to 600 patients per year who need assistance in breathing in its emergency room, intensive care unit and isolation ward. The project is also expected to reduce the number of mortality of patients who need assistance in breathing.
The Government of Japan, as the top ODA donor for the Philippines, launched the GGP in the Philippines in 1989 for the purpose of reducing poverty and helping various communities engaged in grassroots activities. As of October 2011, 453 grassroots projects funded by GGP – ranging from roughly 1 to 4 million pesos – have been implemented by NGOs, local government units and other non-profit organizations. The total grant for these projects so far amounts to US$20,943,230. Japan believes that this project will strengthen not only friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but also the existing strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines.
