A project to develop regional and provincial hospitals in the second phase using ODA loans of Japan will be carried out in 10 hospitals this year, said a seminar in Hanoi on May 4.

At the seminar, Deputy Minister of Public Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen highlighted the importance of non-refundable aid provided by Japan and other developmental partners in the medical sector.

The project will have an important role in the context where the medical sector is facing many difficulties and deprivations, the deputy minister said.

The five-year project has an investment capital of 10 billion JPY, more than 8 billion JPY of which sourced from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The beneficiaries of the project include Da Nang C Hospital, the General Hospital in central Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan provinces, southwestern Tay Ninh province and central highlands Lam Dong province, Son Tay (Hanoi) and northern Bac Giang province, the Paediatric Hospitals in northern Thai Binh province and central Nghe An province and the Nam Dinh Obstetrics Hospital.

The project aims to improve the provision of health care services, in terms of both quantity and quality and reduce the number of fatalities without identified causes and that of infectious cases by 10 percent.

The focus will be on installing medical equipment and training hospital staff.

The first phase of the project was carried out from Oct. 2008 to May 2011, resulting in the selection of 10 target hospitals.-VNA