Initiatives in Vietnam

Vietnam has one of the highest infection rates in the world, with the number of affected people per 100,000 population approaching 200. The Fujifilm Group is committed to providing opportunities for TB screening mainly in areas where access to medical care is unavailable or difficult.

• Population：Approximately 97.62 million
• Area：329,241km²
• Capital：Hanoi

• * Quoted from "Basic Data on Vietnam," Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Vietnam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with the highest incidence of TB, which is a major social issue.

• Annual number of affected people：approximately 172,000
• Number of affected people per 100,000 population：176

• * Adapted from TBFACTS.ORG, "TB incidence for "high burden" countries."

In particular, areas such as remote islands and mountainous regions have inadequate access to medical care including TB screening compared to urban areas such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
It is believed that opportunities are not provided enough and there are many potential sufferers.

IRD Vietnam and Friends for International Tuberculosis Relief FIT, which conduct TB screening in collaboration with the Stop TB Partnership, have long recognized the challenges of access to healthcare in remote areas and have promoted TB screening. However, it has not been easy to bring large X-ray equipment and conduct large-scale TB screenings in remote areas separated by mountains and oceans with poor transportation infrastructure.

Therefore, the two organizations applied for the Japanese government's "Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects" and the project was adopted in 2020 as the "Project for Provision of Portable X-ray Equipment for Efficient Screening of Tuberculosis in Remote Areas. Based on this, our local subsidiary FUJIFILM VIETNAM Co., Ltd. introduced a portable X-ray device and diagnostic support software developed using AI technology. The two organizations utilized the device from February to April 2022 to conduct TB screening for roughly 11,000 residents in mountainous areas and remote island villages in the three northern and central provinces, and 77 people who were diagnosed as positive as a result of the screening were linked to treatment at medical institutions.

Because Fujifilm’s equipment is compact, ultra lightweight, easy delivery by one person,using regular small vessel service is achievavle to facilitate medical examinations on remote islands.