ISLAMABAD, March 24: The Japanese government, under its Country Assistance Programme, will assist Pakistan in ensuring fair access to health care in the rural areas and linking primary and secondary health care services. This was stated by Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka at a ceremony held to mark the completion of the second phase of rehabilitation work of Children’s Hospital situated on the premises of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). Mr Tanaka said for the rehabilitation of the hospital, damaged beyond repair due to the unprecedented monsoon rains and flooding in July 2001, the Japanese government had provided $5.2 million to Pims.

He said Pakistan was striving to achieve the health target set under millennium development goals (MDGs). These include minimizing infant mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/Aids, malaria and other fatal diseases, he added.

The Pakistan government’s budgetary allocations for the health sector have gradually increased over the past years to improve the quality of health care. The total outlay, set aside this fiscal year for health improvement programmes, is Rs6,463 million, he added.

The envoy said: “Much more still needs to be done for protecting people against hazardous diseases, promoting general public health and upgrading curative care facilities.”

Islamabad Children’s Hospital, a 230-bedded tertiary-care hospital, caters to the needs of approximately five million children and has a huge catchment area, including referrals from different parts of the country. It is the only tertiary referral children hospital in the country equipped with modern facilities for the diagnosis and prevention of diseases as well as the routine paediatric treatment of children, the ambassador added.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan said: “It is gratifying to see that international cooperation can bring dividends in such a way that benefits a large number of people and in this case the Children’s Hospital of Pims has benefited tremendously from the help received from the Japanese government through Japan International Cooperation Agency.”

He said the whole project was worth Rs714 million which was mostly a grant from the Japanese government and which was gratefully acknowledged.

The third phase is equally important, especially because it will offer state-of-the-art operation theatres as well as equipment of the highest quality and ensure disposal of toxic material through repair of the present waste disposal system, he added.

The minister said the government was looking forward to furthering cooperation in many fields including doctors and nurses’ training both here and in Japan and exchange programmes involving health providers.

He said Pims already in the process of building a state-of- the-art burns centre would also embark upon establishing a cardiac centre. Plans are afoot to set up a liver transplant unit for which the government will welcome help from Japan in terms of technical advice and training of Pakistani surgeons and physicians, he added.

Earlier, Pims Executive Director Dr Syed Fazle Hadi said the third and final phase of the rehabilitation work on the children’s hospital would begin this year and funds for the approved plan were already available and would be utilized “whenever the Japanese counterparts informed us”.

Giving details of the project, Assistant Director Dr Waseem Khawaja told Dawn that the total cost of the project was Rs711.916 million which was to be completed in three phases. The total cost of phase-II was Rs325 million and it was completed on March 15, in which mechanical and electrical works were carried out.