Accra, Aug. 25, GNA - The authorities of Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) in Japan are to strengthen their collaboration in Ghana to address emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the country.

Mr Moriguchi Yasutaka, Japanese Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology, who announced this, said the Noguchi Memorial Institute would be used to address these issues due to its role in promoting medical research.

Mr Yasutaka stated this during a courtesy call on Dr George Sipa Yankey, Minister of Health, in Accra on Tuesday. He said the University had initiated a programme to strengthen cooperation between researchers in Japan and developing countries and would officially launch the Ghana-TMDU collaboration on Wednesday, August 26 at the Noguchi Institute.

Mr Yasutaka explained that based on this agreement, the two institutions would research into emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, with research groups conducting research into selected viral, parasitic and bacterial infections. These researches, he noted, would provide scientific data which would be useful for the promotion of public health and nurture talented youth who would actively pursue research in infectious diseases in Ghana and Japan.

Dr Sipa Yankey expressed appreciation for the collaboration between the two countries, especially Japan's contribution to Ghana's economy. He mentioned the Community Health based Improvement Project (CHPS) aimed at reducing maternal mortality and appealed for increase support for its extension to other parts of the country. 25 Aug. 09