By Shawn Seabrookes
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Minister of Health, Hon. Rupert Herbert, signing the Memorandum along with His Excellency John Liu, the Ambassador of Taiwan to St. Kitts and Nevis. photo by Shawn Seabrookes/SKNVibes.com |
(Basseterre; St. Kitts): The medical sector of the Federation is receiving a significant boost in its bid to improve on the country's health care delivery policy, with a dual blessing- the signing of Understanding and a short working visit by a medical team from the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The Memorandum was signed by Minister of Health, Hon. Rupert Herbert, and the Director of Health Institutions, Mrs. Eugenie Condor, on behalf of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, and by His Excellency John Liu, the Ambassador of Taiwan to St. Kitts and Nevis, and Mr. Chen Chi-Fu, head of the medical delegation, on behalf of the Taiwanese government.
The ceremony to mark the official introduction of the medical team and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was held at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, earlier today, April 2nd.
The MOU entails the establishment of a sisterhood relationship between the China Medical University Hospital and the Joseph N. France Hospital, in an effort to improve the links in health.
The medical team comprises of specialists in the fields of surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, dentistry, pharmacy and various nursing specialists and administrators.
While here, the team will work closely with their local counterparts, to improve on their ability to better address the medical issues.
The Taiwanese medical team arrived on March 29th, and will be here until April 12th. They will equally share working stints on both islands.
Minister of Health, Hon. Rupert Herbert, said the signing of the MOU and the visitation of the medical team underscores the excellent relationship between the two countries and underlines the emphasis placed on developing a top class medical product.
He noted that the Taiwanese government has always been very generous to St. Kitts and Nevis, since 1983, and noted that this generosity has resulted in significant local development.
He made reference to the fact that the Taiwan has donated US$ 100,000 to the local government annually to assist with the development of the medical sector, and the recent development is in addition to that commitment.
The Taiwanese Ambassador, His Excellency John Liu, said this latest gesture is symbolic of the very strong relations between his country and St. Kitts and Nevis.
He related that while here, the team will not only seek to take care of the medical needs of the patients, but will conduct several workshops.
"Over the past two decades, our countries have enjoyed a wide scope of cooperation in agriculture, education, social development, training, ICT, infrastructure projects, health and many more, and today our medical team is also going to donate 10 cases of medical supplies, and medicine to the hospital," he further revealed.
The Director of Health Institutions, Mrs. Condor, registered her tremendous appreciation of the gesture by the Taiwanese government, and said the fact that it was right on the heels of discussions with representatives from the Pan American Health Organization, (PAHO) to improve the delivery of health care, made it rather timely.~~adz:Right~~
The brief ceremony was chaired by the Medical Chief of Staff, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson.
