Japan Injects $10M in Medical Aid

The Japanese government has donated an estimated $10million worth of medical equipment, hospital beds and ambulances to support Fiji’s healthcare delivery.

The handover by Japanese Ambassador Rokuichiro Michii was made to the Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, and ministry staff at the Fiji Pharmaceutical Biomedical Services Centre in Suva on Wednesday.

In total, a CT scanner installed at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, eight infant incubators, 50 hospital beds, nine mobile x-ray units, six ambulances, seven ultrasound scanners, 20 defibrillators, 13 autoclave machines, 60 suction units, five centrifuge machines, 40 x-ray protection aprons, four ultra-low-temperature freezers, along with 35 stretchers and 41 wheelchairs, which are set to arrive later, were gifted. Some medical equipment have already been deployed at various healthcare facilities where they are most needed.

Dr Lalabalavu said the donation of medical equipment could not have come at a better time.

“It will greatly assist healthcare workers around the country in their work and make a difference for patients in our care,” he said.

The donation was delivered through Japan’s grant aid scheme, the Economic Social Development Programme (ESDP), as part of its COVID-19 support package to the Fiji Government.

Since 2016, eight ESDP projects worth $60.72m have been discharged.

“Japan shares the same recognition of the importance of the health care sector to the overall socio-economic development in Fiji, and this is one of the reasons we have consistently focused on Fiji’s healthcare sector,” Mr Michii said.

“We share a long-standing friendship and collaboration in the health care sector, and we are honored to continue that legacy through this project.”

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