The Hue Medicine and Pharmacy University in Hue City on Thursday conducted an inaugural ceremony for a Japanese-funded digestive endoscopy center, the most modern of this kind in Vietnam so far.  The center, built with fund of about US$1 million from Japan’s Nagoya University, is equipped with four advanced medical machines: an endoscopic ultrasound device, a small intestine endoscopy, an early digestive cancer diagnosis equipment, and a transnasal gastric endoscopy machine.  

These advanced technologies will help Vietnamese doctors make effective diagnoses of stomach cancer, said Associate Professor Dr Tran Van Huy, president of the Central Vietnam Association for Digestive Endoscopy. With these equipment and supports from Japanese experts, the center is able to serve 150-200 patients per day, mainly from provinces in central and Central Highlands regions. The Hue Medicine and Pharmacy University has sent staff to Japan for training in using the medical equipment.   Under a cooperation program with Hue Medicine and Pharmacy University, Nagoya University will send its experts to the center to train Vietnamese doctors and share experience with them. Annually, a Japanese doctor will work at the center to transfer new medical techniques and technologies to Vietnamese doctors. The inauguration of the center is a part of the Vietnam-Japan Cultural Week (September 9-14) and one of the events that marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan, said Prof. Dr Cao Ngoc Thanh, headmaster of the Hue Medicine and Pharmacy University. The same day, the university’s Prof. Dr Thanh conferred the title of honorary professorship on two Japanese professors.