On Thursday, Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko turned over COVID-19 related equipment to San Lazaro Hospital in a ceremony attended by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and JICA Chief Representative Azukizawa Eigo.

The laboratory equipment and supplies are part of Japan’s grant aid to assist the Philippines in its battle against COVID-19.

During the ceremony, the Ambassador emphasized that Japan remains committed to support the Philippines in moving towards full pandemic recovery.

The Ambassador expressed his hope that “this state-of-the-art medical equipment strengthened the capacity of San Lazaro Hospital to treat and manage COVID-19 cases,” and that even after this pandemic, these will equip the hospital to deliver superior health care services for other contagious diseases as well.”

“We will overcome this public health challenge alongside each other. In this evolving health landscape, surely, you can always count on Japan. Japan will also count on Philippines.” he concluded.

Since the start of COVID-19, Japan continuously stepped up its partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) for comprehensive assistance to beat this contagion.

This grant, amounting to 700 million yen, involves the provision of state-of-the-art medical equipment like automated DNA extraction machines, biosafety cabinet, real-time PCR system, -among others, to be installed in key hospitals and medical institutions.

It also includes the setting up of laboratory surveillance sites across the country to augment the health sector’s capacity to address COVID-19 and other emerging or re-emerging diseases that may occur in the future. Japan Information and Culture Center