Japanese agency’s cooperation improves medical services in Cuba

Havana, Mar 8 (Prensa Latina) Five Cuban hospitals have received computer and communications equipment in the last three years as part of a Japanese cooperation project that allows offering better imaging services in those facilities.

March 8, 2025
00:15

This was evidenced in the presentation of the progress in this sector of the Cuban hospitals involved in the project, called “Hospital Digitalization in Diagnostic Imaging,” promoted by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2022 to March 2025.

The initiative developed at the Abel Santamaría Hospital in Pinar del Río province, and at the Miguel Enríquez, Manuel Fajardo, Calixto García and Juan Manuel Márquez hospitals, in the Cuban capital, made it possible to reduce the consultation time of doctors for radiological images by implementing wireless connection mechanisms at all levels with computers and servers provided by JICA.

As part of the Joint Coordination Committee and Seminar for the promotion of the digitalization of imaging services that took place on Friday in Havana, the person in charge of the computer services at the Abel Santamaría Hospital, Engineer José Soldevilla, said that thanks to the two servers, 133 computers and other equipment donated by the project, some 243,000 patients have benefited in Cuba’s westernmost province.

In recent months, more than 17,000 tomography scans and 5,000 magnetic resonance screenings were performed and specialists were able to view some 94 X-ray tests digitally, he said.

The IT manager at the Calixto García Hospital, Engineer Andy Ochoa, noted that the donations provided by JICA expanded the connection coverage at that center, one of the largest in Cuba.

The experts there are working on a mobile application that will facilitate doctors’ access to the X-ray images and that can be stored for more than six months.

The second secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Cuba, Kanaco Otsubo, noted that her country will continue to support the Caribbean island’s health sector, as well as other strategic areas, and expressed her confidence in the extension of the JICA initiative to more hospitals.

The Hospital Digitalization in Diagnostic Imaging project, promoted by JICA and the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), also allowed some 24 Cuban specialists toi receive training in Japan in order to achieve digital health.

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