The Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) on Tuesday received medical equipment valued at just under US$100,000 from the Republic of South Korea.
The equipment will be distributed among the Ophthalmology Unit, Accident and Emergency Department, Pharmaceutical Services and Laboratory Unit of the MCMH.{{more}}
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Doo-Young Lee, at the handing over ceremony held at the MCMH, said human beings are the centre of their concerns for sustainable development. He stated that population health could not be maintained without sustainable development.
Lee noted that between 2012 and 2015 the Republic of Korea has provided medical equipment to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital to deal with non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes.
He said in 2016, a further US$75,000 will be provided for work in the public health sector.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment Luke Browne disclosed that the value of the ophthalmology equipment amounts to US $45,237, while other equipment totals just over US $50,000.
âOur work in health care will be a lot easier as a result of the contributions of interested parties like that,â said Browne.
He also expressed appreciation to the Korean government, along with the hope that they will continue to consolidate their relationship with St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Browne reiterated the need to tackle non-communicable diseases, which he says is an important priority area, âSo weâre going to look to address that and see how we could find ways of further collaboration in the future,â he added.
Giving a brief history of the Vincentian-Korean relationship, director of foreign policy and research in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Regional Integration Sandy Peters-Phillips stated that St Vincent and the Grenadines established diplomatic relations with the republic of South Korea on October 27, 1979 and since then have been enjoying friendly relations.
According to Peters-Phillips, this is evident through a number of co-operative initiatives that have brought tremendous benefit to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines, mainly in the sectors of health, foreign affairs and the national emergency organization NEMO.(AS)
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