The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided more than 15 million pesos worth of laboratory equipment for the surveillance and management of COVID-19 cases in San Lazaro Hospital to help the Philippines’ response efforts. The turnover ceremony was held last March 2 at San Lazaro Hospital.

As the Philippine government continues to develop support for COVID-19 countermeasures, local hospitals also continuously work on increasing their capacity to respond to the COVID-19 cases.

Present during the turnover ceremony were Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, San Lazaro Medical Center Chief. Edmundo Lopez, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and JICA Chief Representative Azukizawa Eigo.

San Lazaro Hospital is one of JICA’s institutional partners in the Philippines in the public health sector.

“The equipment from JICA will certainly be useful in the Philippines’ detection, treatment, and management of COVID-19 cases. In these times, we recognize the importance of having sufficient number of equipment to effectively provide quality medical services, even beyond the COVID-19 pandemic,” said JICA Chief Representative Azukizawa Eigo.

“This provision of additional laboratory equipment is yet another important milestone in the Philippine-Japan health cooperation and supports steps towards furthering our response and recovery efforts, advancing universal health care, and strengthening health security at large,” said Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega.

JICA has been supporting the Philippines’ COVID-19 response through equipment and medical supplies.

They also provide medical supplies to drug treatment and rehabilitation centers in the country under an ongoing cooperation for evidence-based relapse prevention program for drug dependents in the Philippines.

Aside from enhancing the capacity of health institutions, JICA has earlier provided 50 billion yen Post Disaster Standby Loan as contingent financial support to the Philippines’ economic recovery efforts post-COVID-19 and another 50 billion yen for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan for the Philippines’ social protection and relief efforts related to the pandemic. JICA Philippines