On Wednesday, the Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People’s Committee, Mr Phung Tan Viet, warmly received some representatives from the Saiseikai Medical Association in Japan, led by its Chairman Shigeru Sumitani.

Vice Chairman Viet asked the Japanese Association to visit local medical organisations and provide more medical equipment to the city’s Cancer Hospital, as well as to give training courses for the hospital’s medical staff.  The intention is to help local disadvantaged people with life-threatening diseases due to the consequences of the past two resistance wars.

Chairman Sumitani and Vice Chairman Viet

He also pledged that the local authorities would create even more favourable conditions for foreign investors, including those from Japan, to operate in the city.

In reply, Chairman Sumitani said that his Association was founded 104 years ago with the purpose of providing healthcare services for disadvantaged people.  The Association now has over 300 medical establishments across Japan, and it is expanding its operations into foreign countries worldwide, including Viet Nam and Da Nang in particular.

He remarked that over recent years the Saiseikai Medical Association has donated around 100 hospital beds to the Da Nang Cancer Hospital and covered the living expenses for 2 of the hospital’s doctors who had been sent to Japan to train.  He added that his Association would continue to fund those living expenses and also cover the tuition fees for another 4 doctors from the hospital to study in Japan this year.

To mark the occasion, representatives from the Association and the hospital signed a memorandum of understanding on boosting their healthcare cooperation.