The fourth in a series of the trainings for healthcare professionals came to an exciting conclusion on September 30, 2022, at the Noguchi Memorial Institute, following eight weeks of intensive training in contemporary diagnostic techniques to battle emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the African region.
The course, named the ‘Third Country Training’, which was designed to improve the skills of fifteen healthcare professionals from 10 West and Central African countries in battling infectious diseases, ensured that the biomedical scientists gained greater understanding in the diagnosis of infectious diseases. To improve their laboratory skills, the trainees also underwent rigorous laboratory work in the Institute’s advanced laboratories.
At the closing ceremony, the 15 trainees testified to the excellent work of the facilitators at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. They expressed confidence that the skills they had gained would help them better manage potentially fatal public health outbreaks in their home countries by putting what they had learned into practice and passing on what they had learned to other colleagues in their respective institutions to help prevent public health outbreaks on our continent. The trainees were from the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Democratic Republic of Congo
The Director of the Institute, Professor Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, and the management and staff of the Institute hosted the ceremony, which was also attended by the Chief Representative of the Japanese Embassy in Ghana, Mr. Tetsuya Imaoka; Mr. Akihisa Katsumura, the First Secretary in charge of Development Cooperation at JICA, Mr. Monita Yasuaki, a Deputy Representative from JICA, and staff from the JICA Ghana Office.
The eight-week training program was a great success, and the Institute and JICA are looking forward to hearing about the achievement of the participants when they return to their respective.
The Institute appreciates the support it receives from JICA and the Japan Embassy in Ghana, as well as the commitment both organizations have demonstrated to this program. We value our friendship and look forward to working with all the countries that took part in this training program, as we continue the fight against infectious diseases on the African continent.
