An announcement to this effect was made in a statement issued here on Saturday.
It said that the government of Japan has extended a grant of US$ 90,514 (approximately Rs.9.2 million) to Sukkur Blood and Drug Donating Society for the project for the provision of medical equipment for mother and child healthcare to Sukkur Hospital under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) scheme.
The handover ceremony was held recently at Sukkur Hospital. It was also attended by Toshikazu Isomura, Consul General of Japan in Karachi and Muhammad Naeem, President of Sukkur Blood and Drug Donating Society.
The grant covers the cost of medical equipment such as operation tables, incubators, anaesthetic instrument, etc. The Sukkur Hospital established by Sukkur Blood and Drug Donating Society has been providing health care services to the people living in Northern Sindh since 1998 and it has recently set up a new Maternal and Child Health ward to provide better mother and child health services to the people living there.
The equipment is expected to provide proper medical services to about 400 pregnant women and about 175 new-born babies every month, and will contribute to the expansion of mother and child health care services of the hospital.
At the handover ceremony, Isomura sincerely hoped that the equipment provided under the grant would greatly improve mother and child health care services in rural Sindh.
He also wished that this support from the people of Japan would further strengthen friendly relationship between Japan and Pakistan.
Under the GGP scheme, Japan has funded more than 340 projects in Pakistan since 1989, and this is the 15th GGP project to be implemented by the Consulate-General of Japan in Karachi since 2009.