The Diamond Jubilee Medical Corps Day was held yesterday morning in the convocation hall of the Defence Services Institute of Nursing and Paramedical Sciences in Yangon, and State Administration Council Chairman Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attended Diamond Jubilee Medical Corps Day. Also present on the Diamond Jubilee occasion were Chief of General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) General Maung Maung Aye, Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Admiral Moe Aung and high-ranking officers from the office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Union Minister for Health Dr Thet Khaing Win, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Soe Thein, Commander of Yangon Command Maj-Gen Nyunt Win Swe, Yangon Mayor U Bo Htay and responsible officials, the retired high-ranking officers from the Medical Corps, members of the Defence Services Medical Corps, responsible personnel from the Ministry of Health, the Myanmar Medical Council Chairman and the Myanmar Medical Practitioners Association Chairman.
First of all, Lt-Gen Thet Pon from the office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), Quartermaster-General Lt-Gen Kyaw Swar Lin and Yangon Command Commander Maj-Gen Nyunt Win Swe formally opened the ceremony marking Diamond Jubilee Medical Corps Day whereas the SAC Chairman Defence Services C-in-C formally unveiled the signboard bearing the phrase ‘Medical Corps Day’, pushing the button. Afterwards, the C-in-C posed for a group photograph. Next, the Senior General delivered a speech in honour of the members of the Medical Corps, both the retired personnel and those who are still in service. He noted that this special occasion was born out of the period of independent struggle alongside Myanmar Tatmadaw, that he was proud of the service personnel’s keeping of the noble, historical traditions till this day of the Diamond Jubilee, that with the attainment of independence getting near, a medical corps was needed was therefore established on 1 October 1947 and that since then, the day of the establishment was designated as Medical Corps Day.
The Senior General went on to say that just as the members of the Medical Corps had exerted their utmost effort in the independence struggle, they also had participated actively in the military operations launched in the post-independence period, that the Insein battle and anti-Kuomintang battle were the major military operations, that the history of the medical corps had witnessed the medical personnel have sacrificed their lives and limbs during the military operations and that Captain Thura Mon Htaw Thet Nyunt was one among those who had made supreme sacrifices, that the medical personnel had to provide medical care to the officers and other ranks and their family members in addition to providing the medical cover in the front line and that they even provided medical treatment to the civilian local people at the Tatmadaw hospitals.
Afterwards, the Senior General explained the upgrading of the military hospitals in which advanced surgical operations were being provided, keeping abreast of the world’s hospitals. He said that it is heartening to learn that organ transplants can now be done, that the first historic liver transplant had been performed successfully, that people from all regions can now have access to quality medical care and that there is no medical treatment that the physicians and surgeons from the military medical corps cannot conduct.
Next, the Senior General said that the Nurses Training Wing was first founded in 1959 to produce the trained nurses and now altogether 16 batches had been opened, that similarly, the National Service (Medical Officer) training courses were conducted, that after the 1990s, Defence Services Medical Academy, the Defence Services Nursing Institute and the Defence Services Paramedical Institute were also opened and that such efforts were aimed at developing the human resources.
The SAC Chairman Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services also pointed out that the members of the military medical corps were seen actively rendering their medical cover during the outbreak of the natural disasters and that Nargis and Giri were the most obvious examples. He went on to say that the medical corps was also providing healthcare at the mobile clinics, that they were quite helpful in the peak period of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the medical corps had also cooperated with the international community to widen the scope of knowledge so that they can provide better quality medical care, that the medical corps had also sent its members to the International Conference of Military Medical Schools-ICMMS and the International Committee of Military Medicine-ICMM, that the medical personnel were also sent to Russia beginning from 2018 to participate in the medical skills competitions, that in 2022, the Medical Rally Event in the International Army Game in Russia invited Myanmar and that during the past 75 years, it was found that the medical corps members had been awarded titles and medals for their outstanding performance.
In conclusion, the Senior General called on the members of the Defence Services Medical Corps to hold their noble traditions and continue to provide medical treatment and healthcare services to their utmost.
Afterwards, Director of Defence Medical Services Maj-Gen Ko Ko Lwin explained the background history of the Medical Corps, followed by a presentation of the documentary video marking the diamond jubilee. Next, a musical performance was conducted. Then, the Senior General was presented with the gift of honour by the director.
Earlier in the morning, the Senior General visited the 1,000-bedded Defence Services General Hospital No 1 to attend the opening ceremony of the eight-storey Special Care Centre. The ceremonial ribbon was then cut to formally open the new centre. Next, the SAC Chairman unveiled the signboard, pushing the button. Afterwards, he posed for a group photo. The Medical Superintendent explained the reasons for the construction of the new medical centre.
The Senior General pointed out the measures that needed to be taken and gave the presents to the officials concerned. – MNA
