Master Techniques from Japan to the World 3

Overcoming COVID-19 with Japanese Technology and Know-how!
—Improving Myanmar’s medical system through high-quality, safe medical oxygen supply system—

A Kitajima Sanso employee giving guidance on safe delivery methods to a local medical oxygen delivery staff member (Photo: Kitajima Sanso)

Guidance being given on safe use of medical oxygen at a national hospital in Yangon (Photo: Kitajima Sanso)

In Myanmar, there is an urgent need to improve the level of medical care, enhance the training of medical personnel, and strengthen the healthcare system. One of the major challenges is ensuring a safe and stable supply of medical oxygen that is essential for treatment.

In response to this situation, Kitajima Sanso Co., Ltd., a Japanese company headquartered in Tokushima Prefecture, through JICA’s Framework SDGs Business Supporting Survey with the Private Sector*1, conducted the “Verification Survey with the Private Sector for Disseminating Japanese Technologies for establishing supply chain-management system for safe, high quality and hygienic medical oxygen in Myanmar,” in five hospitals in Yangon and its suburbs from 2017 to 2020.

“The biggest issue in providing medical oxygen in Myanmar was the lack of domestic laws and rules on medical oxygen. Therefore, accidents related to medical oxygen occurred frequently in Myanmar, while in Japan it hardly occurs,” Mr. Bradley Shelley, Managing Director of Kitajima Sanso, tells us about the situation at the time.

In Myanmar, there were no rules on the quality and safety of medical oxygen. As a result, the concentration of the produced oxygen was not consistent, and oxygen cylinders were transported in the same way as ordinary shipments. As hospitals also had no inventory management systems, they sometimes ran out of stock of medical oxygen because of delays in ordering by hospital staff.

In order to improve this situation, Kitajima Sanso made it a top priority to promote the concept of medical oxygen in Myanmar. Through implementing the KITAJIMA ROC (Responsible Oxygen Cycle) System, the company dedicated itself to giving instructions on every operation from the production of medical oxygen to the management of medical oxygen supply in hospitals.

The KITAJIMA ROC System is a stable supply system of medical oxygen to comprehensively deal with the production, quality control, safe delivery, and stable supply of high-quality medical oxygen, and is highly evaluated in Japan. During the survey, Kitajima Sanso employees made numerous visits to Myanmar and provided full guidance to oxygen cylinder transporters about truck load management, safety-conscious transport methods, 5S*2, and safety and hygiene, and to hospital staff about the management and use of cylinders.

“Just teaching the correct know-how would only increase troublesome work for Myanmarese people. Therefore, we made an effort to carefully explain why we should perform the task in every task. Myanmarese people are very talented and sincere, so they will do the work properly once they understand the reason. When I realized this, I felt a great sense of fulfillment.” Mr. KONISHI Yusuke, working in the International Business Division of Kitajima Sanso, said.

Thanks to the cooperation that focused on changing awareness, when Kitajima Sanso staff visited the local hospitals that were beneficiaries of the project half a year after the survey ended, they saw that Myanmarese people had developed ROC systems on their own by using local equipment and the hospitals were providing guidance to manufacturing companies, and they noticed that the situation had changed considerably compared to before the project.

Kitajima Sanso’s medical oxygen is now widely recognized in Myanmar and is also used in response to COVID-19. When a new hospital specializing in the treatment of COVID-19 was established in a hurry in Yangon, the Government of Myanmar directly requested the company’s cooperation, and Kitajima Sanso’s medical oxygen was supplied in the new hospital in coordination with a Japanese equipment manufacturer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and the Embassy of Japan in Myanmar.

In this way, initiative taken by a Japanese company through transferring excellent Japanese medical technology and sharing knowledge is making a significant contribution to strengthening the overall national health and medical system in Myanmar.

*1 Formerly “Verification Survey.”
*2 Widespread adoption of five steps: Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain (5S).