The 3rd Joint Coordination meeting of the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) Project on Institutional Capacity Building for Eliminating Helicobacter pylori Related Death was held on 26th June 2025 at the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan. The Project is supported by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Kuenzang Chhezom, the Officiating President of the University. Mr. Yoichiro Kimata, Chief Representative of JICA Bhutan Office, Professor Yoshio Yamaoka, Vice President of Oita University, Dean of Faculty of Postgraduate Medicine and the collaborating partners from the Royal Center for Disease Control (RCDC), the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH), Eastern Regional Referral Hospital ( ERRH), and Central Regional Referral Hospital (CRRH) attended the meeting.
The meeting shared the progress of the project and discussed the way forward for the Project. The SATREPS Project was initiated in August 2022. During this time, significant progress has been made in training Bhutanese endoscopists and producing diagnostic test kits in Bhutan towards the project goal of establishing a system that can provide appropriate testing, diagnosis and eradication treatment for H. pylori infection.
Through the project, the National Referral Hospital and the two referral hospitals in Bhutan are equipped with high-end endoscopic machines, which would help the people of Bhutan. The most recent one is installed in ERRH.
Through the project, experts from Japan are deployed in hospitals in Bhutan to develop the capacities of Bhutanese doctors and to help the patients of Bhutan. The University, on behalf of the people of Bhutan, expressed a heartfelt gratitude to the Project, JICA, the Japanese Government, and the people of Japan for their support to the people of Bhutan.
