Signing Ceremony of the Exchange of Notes for Grant Assistance “The Project for Upgrading Health Centres to District Hospitals in Copperbelt Province “
2020/7/17
On 14th July 2020, Mr. MIZUUCHI Ryuta, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Zambia, and the Hon. Dr. Bwalya K. E. Ng’andu, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Zambia, signed the Exchange of Notes for “The Grant Assistance for the Project for Upgrading Health Centres to District Hospitals in Copperbelt Province” in the Ministry of Finance in Lusaka. This Programme, amounting to up to 2.65 billion Japanese Yen (approx. 24 million US Dollars), aims to improve basic medical services in Ndola and Kitwe Districts through upgrading health centres to District Hospitals.
In Ndora and Kitwe Districts, which are the second and third biggest districts in Zambia with populations of about 690,000 and 550,000 respectively, approximately 30 health centers in each respective districts provide basic medical services such as slight injury treatment, vaccination and normal birth delivery. However, due to lack of First and Second-level public hospital, existing Third-level hospitals have been in great demand to provide basic medical services. Therefore, construction of First-level hospitals in both areas has been a long-standing challenge in order to reduce the burden on the Third-level hospitals and to enable better access to basic medical services.
Upgrading to First-level hospitals in each district will contribute to improving the quality of medical services as well as health condition of the locals. Once upgraded, the hospitals are expected to accept 5,000 normal birth delivering and conduct 10,000 X-ray inspections a year. Furthermore, demands for the Third-level hospital are expected to reduce by 1,000 a year in each district, contributing to strengthening referral systems.
This assistance aims for concretely realizing the expansion of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and promotion of “Africa Health and Wellbeing Initiative” which the Government of Japan expressed its commitment at the TICAD 7 (the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development) in August 2019.
To read the speech by Ambassador MIZUUCHI at this ceremony, please click here.