Taiwan on Thursday (June 29) donated two ambulances to Hargeisa Group Hospital and Gabiley General Hospital through the bilateral Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project, in order to integrate case management between different facilities to refer and track reported cases, as well as increase mobile healthcare capacity.
The Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project, signed in August 2020, is intended to increase the accessibility of maternal and infant healthcare services and is a collaboration between Somaliland’s Ministry of Health Development, the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), and Kaohsiung Medical University’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital.
During the donation ceremony, Taiwan Representative to Somaliland Allen C. Lou said Taiwan can help and is willing to share its resources and skills with Somaliland and like-minded countries. Commenting on the Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project, Lou said it will “catalyze a win-win-win situation,” directly benefiting Somaliland people, hospitals, and government.
Currently, a batch of eight experienced Somaliland health professionals is in Taiwan for a 3-month training program. A second group of seed trainers is scheduled to go to Taiwan in October 2022.
Additionally, Taiwan and Somaliland signed the Health Information Management Efficiency Enhancement Project in March, which is a joint initiative between the Somaliland Ministry of Health Development, Taiwan ICDF, and Kaohsiung Medical University’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital. The system will help digitize the East African nation’s patient and hospital records and will initially be implemented at a few healthcare facilities.
