ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: The Government of Japan has decided to extend an assistance of Rs422 million (¥865 million) for two projects in the health sector.

The aid would be extended to project for Improvement of Children Hospital, Islamabad, which would get Rs305 million (¥625 million) and project for Expansion of Immunization Against Neonatal Tetanus, which would get Rs117 million (¥240 million).

Official Exchange of Notes (E/N) to this effect were signed by Minoru Shibuya, Ambassador of Japan, and Dr Waqar Masood Khan, Secretary to the Government of Pakistan, Economic Affairs Division, at the latter’s office here on Wednesday.

Matiullah Khan, Senior Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan was also present to witness the signing ceremony.

The grant assistance is part of the $300 million pledge made by the Government of Japan in November 2001 to support the challenges faced by the Government of Pakistan in alleviating poverty and reviving the economy.

A large number of facilities at the Children Hospital, Islamabad, were damaged beyond repair by the unprecedented monsoon rains and floods on July 23, 2001. The objective of this project is to rehabilitate the existing facilities in the hospital through a grant of Rs305 million.

Under the project, all necessary measures will be taken to prevent and minimize the effects of any such natural disaster in future.

Children Hospital, a component of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), is a 230-bed tertiary care hospital. It was established in March 1985 through the grant assistance of Rs.247.838 million by the Government of Japan. It caters to the needs of approximately 5 million children and has a huge catchment area including referrals from different parts of the country.

It is the only tertiary referral children hospital with modern facilities of diagnosis for prevention of diseases and routine paediatric treatment of children.

Among the seven components of the PIMS, four have been constructed and equipped through the grant aid support of the Government of Japan namely: 1-Children Hospital (March 1985), 2- College of Medical Technology (March 1986), 3-College of Nursing (February 1987), 4-Mother and Child Health Care Centre (December 1998)

Project for Expansion of Immunization Against Neonatal Tetanus:

Neonatal Tetanus is one of the major causes of infant morality in Pakistan. Currently, it is estimated that about 22,000 children die each year due to Neonatal Tetanus (NT) in Pakistan.

WHO estimated that NT mortality rate in Pakistan was approximately 4.2 per 1000 live births.

The Government of Japan has constantly been supporting the Government of Pakistan for the Neonatal Tetanus Immunization project. Since Japanese Fiscal year 2000, grants of 791 million yen (US$7 million) have been extended so far in three earlier phases for procurement of vaccines, syringes, safety boxes and cold chain equipment.

Japan, taking into consideration its friendly relations with Pakistan and as one of the largest bilateral donors to Pakistan, has always supported the initiative to assist the self-help efforts by the Government of Pakistan for the social uplift of its people.