Taiwan, Czech institutes launch African medical aid procurement program

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry (IBMI) on Thursday signed a pact with a Czech nonprofit organization to jointly launch an African medical aid procurement program worth 200 million euros (US$233.18 million).

The cooperation agreement was signed by IBMI Vice President Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池) and Petr Foit, chairman of the Czech Health Technology Institute (CHTI), during the opening of the 2025 Healthcare+ Expo Taiwan in Taipei.

Since 2023, IBMI has worked with CHTI to help a range of Taiwanese medical products, including handheld ultrasound devices, microplate readers and electrocardiography systems, enter Eastern European markets through various projects, Yang said.

This year, he said, the partnership will be further strengthened through the launch of the African medical aid procurement program.

According to IBMI, the program will source a range of medical equipment from Taiwan to bolster primary healthcare, maternal and child care, and the resilience of regional and central hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa.

The procurement will include roughly 20 items, such as intensive care respiratory devices, patient vital-sign monitoring equipment and fetal heart monitors, it explained.

This initiative marks a major step for Taiwan's medical technology sector to go international, enabling cooperation with more countries under the EU framework and helping to expand into both the European and emerging markets, the IBMI said.

The 2025 Healthcare+ Expo Taiwan is being held at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei through Sunday.