MINSK, 9 April (BelTA) – The Japanese Embassy will donate modern medical equipment to the Yelsk Central District Hospital, BelTA learnt from the Japanese diplomatic mission in Belarus.
The equipment will be donated as part of Japan’s human security projects. The Embassy is implementing the Japanese Government’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme.
On 7 September 2010 the Japanese diplomatic mission and the Yelsk hospital signed a contract on the allocation of $106,331 and an additional contract estimated at $19,718 on 18 July 2012. The money was spent on the purchase of cutting-edge medical equipment, including ultrasound equipment, a fiberscope, an automatic refractometer, an ambulance and two dental units. The first grant at the amount of $80,921 was transferred to the hospital in 2009.
Taking part in the solemn ceremony of handing over the medical equipment will be Charge d'Affaires of Japan to Belarus Shigehiro Mimori and head of the hospital Natalia Tishkova.
Since the start of the Grassroots Grant Program in 2004, over $2.3 million worth of grants have been allocated by Japan to provide equipment to Belarusian healthcare facilities. A total of 27 contracts to supply medical equipment were signed; 22 of them have already been implemented, another five are underway. The recipients of the Japanese grants included hospitals in Gomel Oblast, Mogilev Oblast, and Brest Oblast and cancer and endocrinology centers in Mogilev, Vitebsk, and Brest.