Center Hospital > About Us > History > Upholding the mission to protect the Japanese people
Upholding the mission to protect the Japanese people
First responders to the Ebola outbreak
In October 2013, Japan accepted the first suspected Ebola patient. With no other facility in Japan to treat him, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare tasked the National Center with the mission. The facility was set up to address such medical concern and the staff had been trained for this. Of course, this was an arrangement not extended to general patients. It was a very tense time.- Ebola is a fearsome infectious disease, and the 2013 outbreak spread like wildfire through the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, killing 50% of the patients. As a medical institution designated for specific infectious diseases, we were prepared for war. The NCGM was in close contact with the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and examined an appropriate number of patients. We were equipped to treat even the most serious cases; that is why our doctors are heavily armored in the photo. We accepted the patient who was suspected to have Ebola; fortunately, they were not infected with the disease, and were safely discharged.
- Our work is not over. We dispatch specialists to the field who cooperate with the WHO, and train staff at our main facility in Japan.
- In addition, we remain vigilant for the next incident. As a medical institution, we at the NCGM can mask our battle fatigues and give our all to carry out the mission given to us, of which no other hospital is capable.