The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Royal Centre for Infectious Diseases hospital was held in Gidakom, today. The centre will have 100 beds and is an initiative of the health minister, Dechen Wangmo. Once ready, the centre will be Bhutan’s first National Infectious Diseases Hospital.
The hospital was planned before the global pandemic in early 2020. The hospital will have the capacity to carry out infectious diseases research, prevention, control, and management at the national and regional levels.
“Royal Centre for Infectious Disease will be the apex institution for studying infectious disease. Any kind of outbreak, management, prevention, control, or diagnosis will all be done through this institution,” said Health Minister, Dechen Wangmo.
At the groundbreaking ceremony today, the Japanese Ambassador to Bhutan said that the centre will help prepare Bhutan for any other pandemic.
“The Royal Centre will become the central institution for training young doctors. I hope for a day when so many aspirant young trainees with high expectations to save people’s lives will gather here in this Royal Centre that can train up to 200 young medical trainees a year,” added the Health Minister.
The Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will assist to build and equip the hospital, and training the required human resource. The Nu 1.8bn project is expected to complete in four years.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Sherub Dorji
