Despite his old age, Prof Iio Yoshihide from Japan has actively been involved in effectively implementing a project on training nurses to care for the elderly in Da Nang.

Professor Yoshihide (first right) working with leaders of the Ngu Hanh Son District Medical Centre

The Japanese professor is now Head of the Department of Human Welfare of the Chubu Gakuin University in Seki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.  He is also the Director of the above-mentioned project which was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in March 2015, the project was deployed in Da Nang between September 2015 and March 2017.  The intention was to train local nurses on how to provide the best healthcare services for the elderly in order to enhance their material and spiritual lives during and after hospitalisation.

Under the project, a total of 40 nurses from 6 hospitals and 4 medical centres across the city were selected to take training courses.  After finishing these courses, 24 outstanding trainees of them, and some lecturers from the city’s University of Medicine Technology and Pharmacy, were sent to Japan for a 6-week internship programme. 

Thanks to the project, the quality of medical care provided for local seniors has been increasingly enhanced.