Mr. Hajime Taniguchi
Director
Central Asia and the Caucasus Division
Central Asia and the Caucasus Department
Japan International Cooperation Agency

Cc: Mr. Tetsuji Uemura
Project Leader of JICA study team
Nomura Research Institute

Dear Mr. Taniguchi,

First of all, let me express the assurance of my highest respect and acknowledgments for continuous support, reliable partnership and fruitful collaboration for over the years.

We highly appreciate your technical support rendered to the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia for health professionals’ capacity building and contribution to health care system development in Georgia.

It was our great pleasure to meet the representative of Nomura Research Institute during their recent visit to Georgia and discuss the priority directions of our future collaboration in the field of health care, in particular, primary health care, medical education, oncology and emergency medical care.

1. Primary healthcare system Development

• Development of the Primary Health Care (PHC) System Strategy and Action Plan;
• Renewal/rehabilitation of PHC infrastructure and equipment;
• Preparation of the Human Resources Development Plan for the PHC system;
• Training of rural doctors in the specialty - "family medicine";
• Training of Nurses in PHC level;
• Implementation of Continuous Professional Development mechanisms for PHC staff capacity building: Determine of concrete needs, which will be necessary for Continuous Professional Development of PHC staff; Preparation of training modules; Funding of training modules for rural doctors/nurses;
• Elaborate mechanisms for improving quality of PHC services.  
  

      2. Strengthening capacities of postgraduate medical education system and supporting of postgraduate training of Georgian specialists

• Strengthening the country’s capacities in development and planning of health care human resources policy: Creation of the information databases for healthcare personnel and support its sustainable functioning; Preparation of plan for the development of health care human resources;
• Promotion of institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia in order to adopt optimal mechanisms for regulating the postgraduate and continuous medical education system: Creation of a unified electronic platform (electronic system) for  post-graduate education across the country; Integration of the platform with the Certification Registry and support continuous functioning; Training/retraining of the personnel of the relevant units in the Ministry;
• Training of medical doctors in priority areas of medical specialties.
  

        3. Establishing high-tech oncology center 

• Establishing high-tech oncology center in Georgia to provide a wide range of oncological services (screening, clinical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, nuclear medicine (PET-CT and cyclotron), pathomorphology, palliative medicine) under one institution and ensure continuous provision of cancer care services to the patients;
• Integrating high-tech oncology center into the university area, which will be the basis for involvement in its educational and scientific activities and to increase Georgia's potential in this field;
• Developing evidence-based oncology practices and treatment of oncological patients in accordance with the modern approaches;
• Developing pathomorphological laboratory of the oncology center, mobilization of the appropriate resource, training of human resourses for pathomorphological laboratory.
  

       4. Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Development

• Developing communication technologies to ensure uninterrupted interaction between dispatchers and emergency medical brigades;
• Improving emergency medical transportation (reanomobiles/all-terrain Ambulances) to ensure better emergency service provision in mountainous regions and respond on modern technical requirements;
• Renewal and improvement of the medical equipment to ensure effective and timely emergency medical services;
• Improving EMC software system to ensure uninterrupted and safety functioning of emergency system network and database;
• Construction of the new EMC points and EMC Head Office.
  

Thank you once again for continued support and proposed partnership.

Sincerely yours,