The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently provided 42 units of new computer sets to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) as move to support the facility’s plans to automate their hospital systems.

The computer sets, amounting to almost P3 million, form part of JICA’s follow up support to its Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the Philippines’ pandemic response and recovery.

The equipment will help implement PGH’s Computerized Management and Patients Tracking System, also called RADISH / CARROT (Computerized Registry of Admissions and Discharges/Computerized Audited Records Retrieval an Online Tracking System).

The system helped support the telemedicine programs of the PGH at the onset of the pandemic and it is used as a common platform for care coordination and communication.

“The medical practitioners and healthcare workers are at the core of the healthcare system. It is important that we support their life-saving work by providing them conveniences as they perform other hospital functions,” said JICA Chief Representative Azukizawa Eigo.

Data available on the ratio of doctors to population from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that there were about six doctors per 10,000 people in the Philippines as of 2017.

Thus, the JICA equipment support will help amplify the capabilities of medical professionals and healthcare workers in the PGH and also help reduce COVID-19 infections through computerized management. The equipment will be deployed to several work stations in the PGH, including the station for outpatient services.

JICA has recently given JPY885 million grant to the Department of Health (DOH) for cold chain equipment and logistics to help deploy vaccines and medicines in times of public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICA has also extended a 50 billion yen COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan (CCRESL) and another 50 billion yen JICA Post Disaster Standby Loan Phase 2.

At the onset of the pandemic, JICA also provided laboratory equipment for COVID-19 testing, diagnosis, and treatment to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and San Lazaro Hospital. JICA Philippines