VNA:ITALY DONATES MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO VIET NAM

[bich dao <daotb@yahoo.com>]

ITALY DONATES MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO VIET NAM 

                Ha Noi, Aug. 26 (VNA) -- Two large shipments of a total
twenty-five
             containers of medical equipment as aid from Italy to Viet
Nam have
             arrived in the northern port of Hai Phong recently, says a
press release
             of the Italian Embassy in Ha Noi. 

                The equipment, mainly X-ray and scanner machines, was
donated by
             the the Bolzano province and the Emilia-Romagna region to
Viet Nam's
             Ministry of Health. 

                The donation is part of the Italian Medical Equipment
Operation
             (IMEO) project, under which the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
             through the Ha Noi-based Italian Embassy's Development
Cooperation
             Office granted another USD 300,000. The sum will be spent
on the
             construction of a mechanical workshop and an electronic
laboratory and
             the organization of training courses for local
technicians. The workshop
             and the laboratory are designed to provide project-related
services and
             will be handled by both local and expatriate staff. The
project will last in
             nine months from August, 1999. 

                The embassy said in the Aug. 23 press release that the
equipment
             when fully reconditioned will be worth ITL 4.5 billion
(USD 2.5 million)
             and be delivered to most needy hospitals in the northern
provinces of
             Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, the central provinces of Quang
Binh and Thua
             Thien-Hue, and Ha Noi. 

                Apart from the IMEO project, the Italian Government is
to provide
             preferential credit worth ITL 12 billion (USD 6.9 million)
to a project to
             supply basic health care equipment and supplies to general
hospitals in
             the northern provinces of Phu Tho and Ninh Binh, the
central city of Da
             Nang and the southern province of Can Tho. 

                Furthermore, a financing proposal to provide equipment
worth ITL 10
             billion (USD 6 million) to a new Cardiology Institute to
be built in Ha Noi
             is currently under consideration by the Italian
Government. This project,
             initiated by Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh of Viet Nam,
aims to
             establish a specialized centre to treat heart diseases of
people of all
             ages.--VNA 



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