China’s Ministry of Defence yesterday provided 24 kinds of medical equipment to the state-run Preah Ket Mealea military hospital to support heart and blood treatments.
During a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Lieutenant General Ly Sovan, director of Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, said the hospital has often been short of medical equipment and human resources.
Lt Gen Sovan said that since 2000, China’s Ministry of Defence has been filling the void with donations while also renovating five buildings.
He added the medical equipment donated yesterday included scanning machines and operating tools.
“This medical equipment will help and support treatment in the cardiovascular ward because they are high cost, effective diagnostic machines that the hospital was lacking,” he said.
Prum Vises, director of the department that received the donation, said that some diseases needed sophisticated medical equipment for treatment.
“This technical equipment is rarely available in our country, so these donated machines will help to diagnose heart diseases more effectively,” he said.
Xiong Bo, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, said that China cooperates well with Cambodia in all sectors and noted that it plans to strengthen military cooperation in the future, including the support for hospitals.
“China will help to improve treatment at this hospital to give better service to Cambodian people and soldiers,” he said.
During the handover ceremony, Defence Minister Tea Banh said to celebrate 60 years of relations between the two nations, both countries will hold a Golden Dragon military exercise in March.
“The support from China, and good cooperation with China, is a sign of a long-term commitment for both governments,” he said. “The health sector needs improvement for peace in the country and it needs more modern technical equipment for medical treatment.”
Last month, Gen Banh confirmed that China is to provide the army with tanks and armoured personnel carriers to strengthen relations between the two militaries. He said the tanks and APCs would arrive in Cambodia in March, prior to the Golden Dragon military exercise.
China has become Cambodia’s largest development aid donor and provider of foreign investment. As a major source of development assistance, China has disbursed more than $200 million annually since 1992 and has provided about $3 billion in concessional loans and grants to Cambodia.
