ISLAMABAD: The Japanese government on Thursday decided to provide an additional grant of around $4 million for the extension of Maternal and Child Health Care Facility in Sindh.

A statement issued here said that the project was announced on Aug 31, 2021 with the original cost of $22.76 million.

The notes for the additional grant were signed and exchanged between Wada Mitsuhiro, Ambassador of Japan and Dr Kazim Niaz, Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday.

On the same occasion, amended grant agreements of the project were signed and exchanged Thursday between Naoaki Miyata, who is Chief Representative of JICA Pakistan Office and Saeed Ashraf Siddiqui, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The decision of this additional grant was in response to a request made by the Pakistangovernment due to a shortfall in the project cost caused by exchange rate fluctuations and market price escalation.

Under this project, a new maternal and child health center would be established at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, which was a public medical institution serving as the regional hub hospital in Hyderabad district.

The maternal and child health center would have departments of obstetrics and pediatrics, including a labour room, an obstetrics ward, a neonatal intensive care unit, a maternal and fetal intensive care unit, a laboratory, and outpatient consultation rooms.

In addition, around 120 items of medical equipment including newborn incubators and ultrasonic diagnostic device were to be installed. The project was scheduled to be completed by April 2025.

Ambassador Wada said, “The project is expected to benefit more than 20 million people. In terms of the project amount $27.19 million and beneficiary population, this is one of the largest grant projects implemented by Japan in countries around the world.

“I am confident that upon completion in April 2025, this project will be one of the symbols of Japan’s development assistance to Pakistan, along with the Pims in Islamabad.”

The statement issued here by the Japanese embassy said that the number of care facilities to treat mothers and babies with complications was limited in Sindh.

This project would not only alleviate the pressure of tertiary hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad, but also open up opportunities for families from all over southern part of Sindh, with improved accessibility and better chances of saving lives.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2024