Japan helps HCM City Pasteur Institute respond to COVID-19

It was part of a JPY 4 million package that JICA planned to donate to the Pasteur Institute.

The Pasteur Institute currently manages diseases control centres of 20 southern provinces and cities. It was assigned by the Ministry of Health to test suspected cases of COVID-19 infection in the south.

On February 7, JICA also granted the first package of biologicals valued at JPY 14 million to the Hanoi-based National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).

The total amount of its assistance for Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19 is estimated at JPY 20 million (US$ 178,800).

In order to help Vietnam cope with dangerous infectious diseases, the Japanese Government has provided the country with non-refundable aid packages to launch level-3 bio-safety rooms, offer technical assistance to improve the capacity of labs on bio safety and highly hazardous infectious pathogen.

For the third stage of the project on improving the capacity of labs on bio safety and highly hazardous infectious pathogen, the Japanese side already sent two experts to work for a long term at the NIHE.