Islamabad, 21 OCT : Construction of the extension of Intensive Care at Maternal and Child Care Centre and Children’s Hospital was launched at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad. The grant assistance from Japan worth $32 million (3.62 billion Japanese Yen) was signed in Tokyo two years ago.

On this special occasion, H.E. MATSUDA Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, expressed his respect to all those who worked hard to start this project amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to this, in this August, Japan extended another grant assistance of $31.4 million to establish a new Maternal and Child Health Center at Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences in Hyderabad. Ambassador MATSUDA commented, “PIMS and Liaquat University are symbols of Japan’s health development assistance to Pakistan in the north and south of the country, respectively. I am sure that the two institutions will make a significant contribution to the improvement of maternal and child health as regional medical hubs.”

Chief Representative of JICA Pakistan Office, Mr. FURUTA Shigeki also remarked, “The project has been long-awaited in order to respond to the growing needs of clinically high-risk perinatal cases from all over Pakistan. In this project, high quality medical treatment will be provided to severely ill mothers and children, accommodating 300 patients at Maternal Foetal Intensive Care unit, and 1,100 patients at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit a year.”

According to the current plan, the construction will be completed in April 2023.