Japan to provide additional $4.43m grant to Sindh

Japan will provide an additional $4.43 million for the extension of maternal and child healthcare facilities project in Sindh.

The Government of Japan has decided to provide an additional grant of JPY 671 million (approx. $4.43 million) for the project, which was announced on August 31, 2021 with the original cost of JPY 3,445 million (approx. $22.76 million).

The notes to this effect were signed and exchanged between Wada Mitsuhiro, Ambassador of Japan and Dr. Kazim Niaz, Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs on April 4, 2024. On the occasion, amended grant agreements of the project were signed and exchanged today between Naoaki Miyata, Chief Representative of JICA Pakistan Office and Saeed Ashraf Siddiqui, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Under this project, a new maternal and child health center will be established at the Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, which is a public medical institution, serving as a regional hub hospital in Hyderabad district. The maternal and child health centre will 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 are to be installed. The project is 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 (JPY 4,116 million/approx. $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 its 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.”

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

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2024.