In developing countries, there are many people who lose their lives because they cannot receive adequate medical care. These countries require strengthening of basic health and medical services and improvement of public hygiene.
Currently, Universal Health Care (UHC): “…means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.” is the goal of the international health and medical services area, and many projects contributing to the achievement of UHC are now being conducted.
In particular, INTEM Consulting, Inc, offers consulting services of creating basic plans for medical devices and supervising their procurement.
Uganda, in addition to the effects of a civil war that began in the 80’s and continued for 20 years, currently, it is receiving many refugees from unstable surrounding countries (Republic of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Uganda has 14 Regional Referral Hospitals (Regional base hospitals to which patients are sent that could not be accepted by lower level hospitals), and due to the effect of the population increase and the acceptance of refugees, the number of patients in each core regional hospital has increased. Up until now, proceeding in the order of the eastern region, the central region, the western region and the northern region, the Japanese government has conducted grant aid projects for the provision of facilities and equipment. Within these projects, for a total of 6 core regional hospitals in the western and northern regions, INTEM has managed the planning for the provision of equipment. During the survey period, there were cases where the surgical lights stopped working and were replaced by household type light bulbs. In the 1970s there were cases where sterilizers were used while being constantly repaired, and the insufficiency and aging of medical devices was prominent. By providing facilities and medical equipment, this project contributes to the improvement of the medical level of the hospitals and the surrounding areas.
Japan has conducted significant support for Cambodia’s healthcare area. Japan has especially focused on the provincial hospitals, and up until now, facilities and equipment have been provided in 6 grant aid projects.
Up until now INTEM has conducted numerous projects in Cambodia, and in the same manner as technical cooperation projects in fisheries sector, we have been heavily involved in projects for the provision of equipment for Cambodia’s provincial hospitals. Up until now, we have created medical equipment and facility provision plans for Preah Sihanouk, Svay Rieng Province, Battambang Province, and Siem Reap Province, and we have also conducted other independent equipment project.
We have created plans for devices starting with but not limited to, diagnostic medical imaging equipment, devices for operating rooms, examination room devices, hospital ward devices, sterilization devices. We have also created plans for a wide range of devices such as those for Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Departments and Denttal Departments, leading to improvement of the level of the overall hospital. As consultants, we have knowledge concerning a wide range of medical equipment, and by accurately understanding doctors requests, we assume the role of creating plans for the appropriate medical equipment for each hospital.
Côte d’Ivoire experienced a civil war that from 2002, and for 9 years the country was closed to the outside world. After the conclusion of the civil war, economic recovery has proceeded smoothly, but there are still many issues in the medical area.
For the Cocody University Hospital located in the capital, regarding the Maternal and Child Health area, we conducted a project for the provision of buildings and medical equipment. During the survey, there were 4 infants sleeping in 1 infant incubator, and we were surprised to find that devices that had been contributed by Japanese grant aid 25 years ago were still in use.
INTEM was in charge of creating a plan for which medical equipment were necessary for which hospital, and we advanced this project in a joint venture with a consultant for architecture. Even if when saying that we are conducting support in the Maternal and Child Health area, other areas including the operating room, ICU, emergency room, examination room and hospital wards are also involved. All the doctors have various dreams, and determining the degree to which those dreams can be made reality and assisting in that realization is our role as consultants.
In order to respond to the increasing number of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Palestine, our company is currently working on a project to improve medical equipment for diagnosis and treatment of NCDs for four hospitals: Rafidia Hospital in the West Bank, Nasser Hospital in Gaza, Europe Hospital, and Indonesia Hospital.
Since this project started before the Israel-Hamas conflict, we entered the Gaza Strip and consulted with the Health Authority and doctors to select the necessary equipment. In the Gaza Strip, the salt content of the tap water is high, making sterilizers and washing machines prone to breakdowns, and Israeli permission is required to transport patients out of the area.
Although entry into the Gaza Strip is currently not possible, equipment such as MRI and angiography machines are being procured for the West Bank for examination and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Since we have been working together with hospital personnel in the Gaza Strip to build this project, our hearts ache when we think of the destruction of the hospital and the injuries sustained by the hospital personnel due to the conflict. We sincerely pray for an early ceasefire and reconstruction.
In Kyrgyzstan, the mortality rate from NCDs, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer, is approximately 80%. Although the local government is working to improve the medical system, it is unable to provide adequate medical care due to a lack of medical equipment and medical personnel. As a result, many people are losing their lives because they cannot receive adequate examination and treatment even when they go to hospitals.
We are implementing two grant aid projects to address this issue. We are providing medical equipment to 10 secondary medical facilities in Chuy Oblast and 3 tertiary medical facilities in the capital city of Bishkek.
On site, we saw many pieces of equipment that were manufactured more than 30 years ago in the former Soviet Union being used while being repaired, and many pieces of equipment left in disrepair, making us keenly aware of the differences between the medical environment in Japan and that in the United States.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has overcome the sad experience of the Vietnam War in the past and has achieved remarkable economic growth in recent years, and people’s lifestyles have changed dramatically. As a result, the number of cancer diseases is rapidly increasing.
The National Cancer Hospital in the capital city of Hanoi receives many public health insurance patients (middle and lower class) from central and northern Vietnam, who have to wait several months for examination and treatment. The situation is serious, with the cancer mortality rate ranking 50th in the world (127th in Japan) due to many cases of delayed detection and delayed treatment.
In order to improve this situation as much as possible, we will provide support to the National Cancer Hospital No. 1 that was newly established in 2023, for the installation of diagnostic imaging and treatment planning equipment. This support is expected to enable the hospital to receive more than 2,000 outpatients per day, shortening examination and treatment time and reducing the waiting period for treatment. By enabling early diagnosis and treatment of as many patients as possible, we will contribute to improving the mortality rate.
