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TaiwanICDF and NTU Bring Medical Breakthrough to Guatemala
The International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) hosted an International Maternal and Child Care Symposium last week (February 28) at Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala City. The event featured Dr. Shih Ching-Chung, Director of the Obstetrics Department at National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital and inventor of the “Nausicaa suture.” At the event, Shih and a team of experts from Taiwan shared this groundbreaking technique with over 200 medical professionals from Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and beyond. The “Nausicaa suture” offers a life-saving alternative to hysterectomies, and significantly reduces postpartum hemorrhage.
The symposium attracted a wide array of participants, including representatives from the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SE-COMISCA), officials from Guatemala’s Ministry of Health, local healthcare professionals, medical students, and former trainees from Taiwan’s medical training programs.
The Nausicaa suture, pioneered by Dr. Shih, is named after the iconic Ohmu creatures from the Japanese animated film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, as the sutured uterus resembles their shape. In Greek mythology, the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa is sometimes associated with rebirth, aligning with the procedure’s goal of preserving uterine function. The technique gained public recognition through its feature in the hit Taiwanese TV drama Mad Doctor. The TaiwanICDF specially invited Dr. Shih to Guatemala to introduce this advanced Taiwanese medical innovation to local healthcare professionals.
In addition, Dr. Tsao Po-Nien, Director of the Neonatology Department at NTU Hospital, was invited to share Taiwan’s experience in building a preterm infant care network and improving survival rates for extremely low birth weight infants. His insights resonated strongly with attendees.
Guatemala’s Deputy Minister of Hospital Affairs, Sandra Edith Carballo Lemus, expressed her gratitude, stating, “We sincerely appreciate Taiwan’s efforts in sharing this knowledge and training our medical professionals, enabling them to apply these skills in Guatemala and improve our healthcare system.” Taiwan’s Ambassador to Guatemala, Ms. Vivia Chang, also spoke about medical cooperation between the countries saying, “Taiwan is committed to sharing expertise with Guatemala and jointly advancing various fields, including healthcare, agriculture, education, and economic development. Our two nations, with 90 years of diplomatic ties, will continue working toward mutual prosperity.”
NTU Hospital Deputy Superintendent Dr. Huang Kuo-Chin further highlighted Taiwan’s contributions, stating, “We have already trained over 30 Guatemalan healthcare professionals. Moving forward, NTU Hospital will remain dedicated to medical exchanges and explore further collaborations in public health, cancer prevention, and neonatal care to drive greater breakthroughs and improvements.”
TaiwanICDF Deputy Secretary General Pei-Fen Hsieh noted that due to previous challenges in maternal and neonatal healthcare in Guatemala, high-risk cases often went undetected. In response, the TaiwanICDF launched the Guatemala Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare Enhancement Project in collaboration with NTU Hospital and Guatemala’s Ministry of Health in 2019. The initiative has since produced dozens of educational videos, introduced over 8,000 medical devices, trained more than 1,000 healthcare workers, and distributed over 100,000 maternal and child health handbooks.
Hsieh further emphasized that the TaiwanICDF will continue to expand the project, leveraging medical technology to strengthen Guatemala’s healthcare infrastructure. These efforts align with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, which aims to enhance Taiwan’s diplomatic engagement through various forms of diplomacy including medical diplomacy.
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- Update: 2025/03/07
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