Handover Ceremony of the Japanese Grant Assistance for
The Programme for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support
for the Kingdom of Thailand at Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health
On 20 September 2023, at Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi, Dr. Supakit Sirilak, Director-General, Department of Medical Sciences, Ms. Ureerat Chareontoh, Director-General, Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Dr. Ballang Uppapong, Deputy Director-General, Department of Medical Science and Dr. Archawin Rojanawiwat, Director of the National Institute of Health, received medical laboratory equipment from Japanese Grant Assistance under the Programme for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support of Thailand.
Dr. Supakit mentioned that Thailand and Japan government have made the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Japan Grant Assistance under The Programme for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support of Thailand on 2 May 2022. Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha, former Prime Minister of Thailand and Mr. Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, were the witness signing of the MOU between Ms. Ureerat Chareontoh, Director-General of TICA and Mr. Nashida Kazuya, Ambassador of Japan to Thailand at the Government House.According to the Programme, medical equipment will be provided by the Japanese Government with a budget of approximately 500 million Yen (approximately 120 million Baht) to the Thai Government in order to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak situation and to support the operations after the outbreak situation is resolved.
Dr. Supakit added that todays ceremony was honored by Mr. Yuichi Oba, Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister (Economic Affairs) of the Embassy of Japan to Thailand and Mr. Kazuya Suzuki, Chief Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Thailand Office, were represented the Government of Japan delivering laboratory equipment under the Japanese Grant Assistance the Programme for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support for the Department of Medical Sciences. The equipment consists of the Lumipulse G1200 instrument, which has a total budget of approximately 70 million Yen, worth over 16 million Baht, for COVID-19 antigen testing. This instrument is a Japanese technology that can be used to diagnose and monitor various diseases. Moreover, it can function to support the COVID-19 response under the Japanese Grant Assistance Program for COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support at the National Institute of Health of Thailand (Thai NIH), Department of Medical Sciences, which plays the critical role as the reference laboratory of Thailand in the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), quality assurance of the laboratory network for research and development as well as collaborating with the disease prevention and control network contribute to the well-being of the people of Thailand.
