“COVID-19 pandemic gives me new insight to Vietnam”: JICA representative

“Hoa Binh – My second hometown”

According to Ms. Takashima Kyoko, when she first came to Vietnam in 2004, she took the position of Chief Advisor/Training Management, for a project on strengthened health services provision in Hoa Binh Province. She could not speak Vietnamese then, while not all her colleagues in the Hoa Binh Provincial Department of Health could speak English, the foreign language she can speak. The language barrier made her feel lonely and sad at times. However, her Vietnamese colleagues were very friendly and always supportive in work as well as in life, making her quickly integrate into life here. Along with that, Ms. Takashima also tinkered with Vietnamese and is now able to speak Vietnamese very well.

Three years working at Hoa Binh gave Ms. Takashima many memorable experiences. Especially on every Tet holiday, she is often invited by her colleagues to their house to enjoy typical Vietnamese Tet dishes such as banh chung (sticky rice cakes), chicken or vermicelli. She also enjoys some dishes by the Muong ethnic minority people, including pork and rice cooked in bamboo tubes. She also went with Vietnamese friends to Kim Boi to bathe in hot mineral springs. Those are unforgettable memories, imprinted in her mind.

Ms. Takashima started her first job in Vietnam as a specialist for a medical cooperation project with Hoa Binh Provincial General Hospital. This is the first provincial hospital to receive non-refundable ODA from Japan to build a high-quality treatment building. By a strange coincidence, Ms. Takashima is both working on the project and a beneficiary of the project. She and her colleague of the Hoa Binh Provincial Department of Health, on Oct 30, 2008, gave birth to their daughters at the General Hospital of Hoa Binh Province on the same day.

Diverse experiences in medical cooperation activities

After Hoa Binh, Ms. Takashima had the opportunity to work in many different localities in Vietnam. “I have many things to remember, but working with Ba Na ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands Province of Gia Lai is one unforgettable one,” she said. From March 2012 to January 2014, she worked as a project coordinator for livelihood improvement of the project on capacity development of participatory agricultural and rural development for poverty reduction in the Central Highlands. “At that time, I was an expert in not only health but education, culture, gender, home economics as well (and coordinator), because the project includes agriculture and rural development with participatory approach in Gia Lai Province. I love local residents’ sincerity and industriousness, and hope to help them empower their ability,” she said.

In 2021, she participated in the project on improving vaccination capacity for the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lai Chau with a support package worth VND2 billion. The project implemented vaccination training activities for health workers and support staff, and procured some necessary safety equipment at vaccination sites such as body temperature monitors, blood pressure monitors and antiseptic solutions. In Lai Chau Province, besides the Kinh people, ethnic minorities such as Thai, Giay and Dao account for about 80% of the population. These are also the populations that have their own language and find it difficult to quickly access mass information in Vietnamese. Ms. Takashima was very proud to share the initiative of her Vietnamese collaborators who quickly made radio materials in the Thai language. This helped improve the effectiveness of communication about vaccination to the people.

Over the past 18 years, apart from working in the above localities, Ms. Takashima has also participated in projects on improving the quality of medical examination and treatment services in Northwest provinces such as Yen Bai, Son La, Dien Bien Bien and Lao Cai, and a project to improve the quality of medical human resources in the health service system at Cho Ray Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) and other hospitals in the South.

“COVID-19 pandemic gives me new insight to Vietnam”

“The COVID-19 pandemic appeared and surprised the whole world. However, when the pandemic happened, the Vietnamese people's response to COVID-19 was very good. I had many opportunities to work with the colleagues from the Ministry of Health to discuss JICA's support to help Vietnam fight the COVID-19 pandemic. They collected information, learned how countries responded the pandemic, and considered which model was appropriate. They started responding from day one. So I realized that I didn't fully understand Vietnam even after being here for so long. I am very grateful to be here in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

So said Ms. Takashima about her experience during the complex development of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past 2 years, Ms. Takashima's work has become much busier and more stressful because she is the leader of the medical team in charge of health and social security. Over the past year, to support Vietnam in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese Government has donated more than 4 million doses of vaccines, while more than 260 Japanese companies have donated more than VND158.6 billion to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund. In addition, JICA also focused on two key priorities on strengthening the core health system for central-level hospitals and strengthening measures to prevent infectious diseases.

Accordingly, JICA has provided the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases with the PCR test system, the Bach Mai Hospital with the air-conditioning system to prevent infection, the Hue Central Hospital with the ECMO system, and necessary equipment for diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients at Cho Ray Hospital, with a total aid value of more than JPY450 million (about VND91 billion) to meet urgent requirements in the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. JICA has also procured through UNICEF cold boxes for vaccine storage with temperature monitoring equipment for vaccine delivery; support in some border provinces through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to strengthen the capacity of staff in pandemic investigation and surveillance.

According to Ms. Takashima, in 2022, Vietnam as well as other countries are still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, programs and projects related to pandemic prevention are still implemented in Vietnam by JICA. “I am very happy to contribute a small part in JICA's efforts to coordinate with the Japanese Government to support Vietnam in improving the quality of medical services and preventing the spread of COVID-19,” she said./.