Entering a new decade

GPSP
Global Partnershipfor
Sustainable Peace

AMDA Projects inMongolia 2017

AMDA Projects in Mongolia
Initially prompted by Dr. Suganami in 2006 who inquired Mongolian
government officials to provide support to AMDA activities, the idea has
blossomed in creating a vast range of activities in Mongolia since 2008. As ofnow, AMDA Projects in Mongolia have expanded as follows:-AMDA GPSP Soul and Medicine Program-Free Cataract Surgery Mission-Children’s Eye Project

GPSP SMP in Mongolia 2008

-Training for Mongolian Ophthalmologists in Japan-Mongolia-Okayama Student Exchange-Dr. Suganami to receive the Order of the Polar Star

■AMDA GPSP Soul and Medicine Program
AMDA believes that healing a human soul is essential to peace building. ToCataract Project 2010

pay tribute to war victims, AMDA has held GPSP Soul and Medicine Programin past battlefields around the world. The program has a twofold purpose: 1)
to conduct a multi-religious memorial service to pay tribute to those who
suffered or died in conflicts and wars, and 2) to provide medical services tothe present communities.
In 2005, the concept was expanded to include natural disaster victims as aresult of calamitous tsunami that hit South Asia on 26 December 2004. Since

Student Exchange 2011

then, AMDA has held a memorial service in the locations where AMDA
conducted emergency relief.
■Free Cataract Surgery Mission
In collaboration with Mongolian Ophthalmologist Society, AMDA has held ophthalmology workshops forophthalmologists in Mongolia. Besides providing up-to-date knowledge and skills, AMDA also conducted cataract
surgeries on patients who were connected with “the Battle of Khalkhin-Gol” (Nomohan Incident) in 1939, alsoknown as the Soviet-Japan Border War.
■Children’s Eye Project
Since 2011, AMDA’s ophthalmologic project in Mongolia has been one of the most viable efforts to date, mainly
providing better eye-care to the people in Mongolia. The project primarily focuses on the institutionalization ofchildren’s eye checkup: a medical system which is thought to be requisite in uplifting children’s visual health froman early age.
In September 2016, a team comprising two Japanese orthoptists as well as AMDA President Dr. Shigeru Suganamiand AMDA Singapore Chairperson Dr. Don Lau with a couple of others visited Guchin-Us village, Övörkhangailocated 500 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar. The team organized children’s eye checkup with some adults being
examined upon request. On 05 September, AMDA collaborated with Mongolia Ophthalmology Association to holda forum titled, “Children’s Eye Problems in Mongolia” at Mongolian Ministry of Health.
■Training for Mongolian Ophthalmologists in Japan
In 2011, training was held for Mongolian doctors visiting Japan including the chairperson of Mongolian
Ophthalmology Association. It was mainly held in Okayama and Tokyo.
■Mongolia-Okayama Student Exchange
Eight students from Okayama University held a cultural exchange event with students from Asian Medical Students’
Association (AMSA)-Dr. Suganami to receive the Order of the Polar Star
In 2017, Dr. Suganami received the Order of the Polar Star from His Excellency Mr. Dambadarjaa Batjargal,
Ambassador of Mongolia to Japan in acknowledgement of his contribution to the betterment of Mongolia’s medicalsector. The award is the highest civilian award presented to a foreign citizen by the government of Mongolia.

Saving the eyes of Mongolian children
Eye-checkup Promotion Project 2017
Since 2008, AMDA has held eye-checkups for children
residing in Ulaanbaatar and its suburbs. The project ispromoting the importance of institutionalizing eyecheckups for pre-school children in Mongolia.
On 01 September 2017, AMDA held a yearly checkup at
Guchin-Us village in Övörkhangai, 11 hour-drive from thecapital. (The program was supported by Zinrui Aizenkai
Mongolia Center.) The team led by orthoptists fromChildren’s eye checkup (2016)

Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare in Japan saw 113 people of which 78 are children aged five to 17. As aresult, five strabismus cases were found while seven people needed immediate referral to the hospital.
Children’s eye-checkup finally institutionalized
On 05 September 2017, AMDA team made acourtesy call to the Mongolian health minister andreported how earnestly AMDA has worked toward theeye-checkup

institutionalization.

Lateron,Dr.

Takasaki, an orthoptist from Kawasaki University ofMedical Welfare reported the efficacy of AMDA’scheckups in the last three years, and reiterated that1) in Mongolia, amblyopia and astigmatism cases arehigher than the world average, 2) half of the children
with potential problems can be saved by wearingglasses. It was then when Dr. Suganami proposed

Meeting with the Health Ministry officials (2017)

the idea of replicating the current Japanese school-eye-checkup system to be introduced in Mongolia. 10 days
later, the health ministry held a press conference to announce the enactment of school eye-checkup
institutionalization, setting 15 September as “Children’s Eye Day”.

Press conference at the Health Ministry(Sept. 2017)

GPSP SMP in Mongolia 2016 (Gandan Monastery, Ulaanbaatar)
On 03 September 2017, GPSP Soul and Medicine Program in Mongolia was held for the tenth time tocommemorate the victims of the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol which took place in 1939. The ceremony was attended
by both Mongolian and Japanese priests to offer peace prayers for the realization of better world. Regardless ofwhat one’s race or creed may be, AMDA is determined to spread the spirit of “Open Sogo-Fujo”, a concept which
embodies mutual assistance in the most accessible manner. Since it was implemented in 2008, affiliated religiousorganizations have been taking part in the event completely on a voluntary basis (AMDA shoulders none of theirexpense.)

The 25m-tall statueholds holy water on
the right and aneyeball on the left.

Memorial service atGandan Monastry (2017)

Gandan Lotus Project for Child Monks in Gandan Monastery
AMDA has provided assistance targeting child monks in Gandan Monastery. For the last three years, theassistance was mainly about donating clothes or stationery. However, by responding to child monks’ ardent wish
to eat as much as they can, it was decided that, for next year, AMDA will be sending food items to fulfill their hearty
appetite.

Exchange with children monks after the 2017 peace prayer“Land of Sea Buckthorn” ProjectA promise which was made between AMDA and the village mayor of Guchin-Us has borne fruit. “Land of Sea
Buckthorn” Project is aimed at producing sea buckthorn (an edible plant rich in vitamin C, A and E) for the purposeof greening the desert, regional promotion and local manpower building. The project engages every villager totake part in it in every possible way. In May 2017, 1,000 trees were planted in one hectare of land.

Many villagers took part in the tree-planting.

Villagers dug the well by themselves.

Right: Dr. Suganami and the villagemayor
Left: The director of Zinrui Aizenkai
Mongolia Center

Suganami Scholarship atMongolian National University of Medical Sciences
Since 2009, Dr. Suganami has been providing scholarship to coverpart of the tuition of the students who are pursuing medicine in
Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. This year, thebursary was provided to each student from second to sixth year
(five students in total.) The scholarship reception ceremony washeld with the presence of college officials, AMSA Mongolia
members and its alumni, followed by recent activity reports fromAMSA Mongolia and its student-driven medical efforts (mobileclinic etc.)2017 Suganami ScholarshipAwarding Ceremony

Medical Seminars held by Dr. Takushi SatoDr. Takushi Sato (Professor at Faculty of Medical Science,University of East Asia) visited Mongolia to hold seminars inseveral locations in which he gave guidance on his specialties
such as emergency medicine and endoscopy. Dr. Sato holds hisposition as vice-chairman of the acting committee of AMDA
Platform for Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Strategy and is a
registered doctor of AMDA ER Network.

On 08 September, Dr. Sato held a lecture for medical students(AMSA members) on emergency medical relief at Mongolian
National University of Medical Sciences. Based on his vast
experiences in Afghanistan, Sudan, Cambodia, Nepal, and mostrecently in Kumamoto, Japan, where devastating earthquakes
struck in 2016, he emphasized the importance of the roles ofdoctors serving the affected. After the lecture, some of thestudents showed their willingness to take part in volunteering
overseas, which proved that the lecture raised their spirit as future
doctors.
Training at Ulaanbaatar Emergency Service 103
From 09-10 September, Dr. Sato also held a two-day seminar on emergency medicine in partnership with
Ulaanbaatar Emergency Service 103. On Day 1, about 100 officials and emergency doctors from Ulaanbaatar’s
20 Health-Department-certified medical institutions participated in the seminar. At the beginning of the event,
AMDA was credited for help setting up 103’s ER base within Japan Mongolia Friendship Hospital. This allowed
ambulance and doctors to always at standby, and hence, technical exchange of this kind was considered to besomething worth continuing with both parties’ contributions. Dr. Sato began his lecture by introducing the historyof disaster medicine in Japan, followed by the guidance on external injury treatments. He also demonstrated
thoracoabdominal ultrasound examination. On Day 2, Dr. Sato took himself to the field where he rode in an
ambulance with a local medical team to conduct a practical training. Mr. Purevdash, the director of 103, expressed
his deep gratitude to Dr. Sato’s deed and AMDA’s support and hoped that this project would be continued next
year as well. As a result, it was promised that this initiative would be continued until the summer of 2019 as ayearly event.

Endoscopy Training at Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences
Based on the partnership with Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, AMDA held endoscopy training
which showcased Japan’s cutting-edge medical techniques, namely, endoscopic treatment/examination. The twoday training (11-12 September) ended successfully, receiving a fervent request to have it made into an annualevent. The university is scheduled to establish an endoscopy center at its hospital next year. One of the officials
said, “It is not exaggerating to say that we want him to visit us every month as we still have a lot to learn from him.”

Accordingly, AMDA promised the university to send Dr. Sato for the endoscopy training every summer until 2019.

Ultrasound examination in Dambadarjaa
Japan-Mongolia Friendship Hospital teamed up with a local family hospital toorganize home-visit ultrasound examination in Dambadarjaa district. The joint
team visited three families in the area whose family members have a potential
abdominal problem. Dr. Oyunchimeg who heads AMDA Mongolia wasimpressed with the way the team handled the examination, stating that Dr.
Sato’s instruction was already visible in their practice.