Japan donates 494 medical devices to ISSSTE with assistance of UNOPS

• 494 medical devices totaling USD5.6 million were donated to 12 hospitals in the State of Mexico, Baja California, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Coahuila, Jalisco, Guerrero and Tamaulipas.

Today, officials from the Foreign Ministry, on behalf of the Mexican government, the Government of Japan and the United Nations Office for Project Services (Unops) delivered medical devices to the Bicentennial Independence Hospital of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) in Tultitlán, Mexico State to combat the COVID-19 health emergency.

The Regional Hospital received 14 hospital beds, 7 intensive care beds, 4 incubators, 3 stretchers, 2 transfer stretchers, 1 ultrasonic washer, 7 vital signs monitors, 2 laryngoscopes, and 1 steam sterilizer.

The delivery is part of the non-reimbursable funding cooperation project of the Japanese government totaling USD5.6 million dollars, through which 494 medical devices have been delivered to 12 hospitals in the State of Mexico, Baja California, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Coahuila, Jalisco, Guerrero and Tamaulipas and 14 ambulances have been donated in Oaxaca, benefiting more than 1.8 million Mexicans.

The medical equipment delivered to the ISSSTE in the eight states includes 170 multi-position electric hospital beds, 85 intensive care hospital beds, 15 steam sterilizers, 46 infant incubators, 20 optical laryngoscopes, 85 vital signs monitors, 15 ultrasonic cleaning machines, 35 stretchers and 23 patient transfer stretchers.

Unops, with its international experience, purchased the medical equipment and ambulances efficiently and quickly using the principles of fair and equitable public management that increase the efficiency, profitability, integrity, effectiveness and transparency of the purchases needed to combat the pandemic and bolster the Mexican health system.

Representatives from the Japanese embassy in Mexico, the Foreign Ministry, ISSSTE Director General Pedro Zenteno, and the Deputy Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and UNOPS Representative in Mexico, Giuseppe Mancinelli, participated in today's event.

This cooperation has contributed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 3 related to universal health coverage. This project strengthens the historical bonds of friendship and cooperation between Japan and Mexico. This is of the utmost importance against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNOPS will continue to assist governments to achieve better profitability, effectiveness and efficiency in their purchasing processes through a fair and equitable approach to public management.