Press Release

Inauguration of a Japanese health project at Sabaeen Hospital in Sana’a city

The government of Japan and Sabaeen hospital held an inauguration ceremony for the project for improving the medical services of Sabaeen hospital on Monday at the hospital in the presence of Mr. Osamu Uno, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Japan and Mr. Masakazu Toshikage, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Yemen, and Mr. Abdulrehman Al-Akwa’a, minister of state/mayor of Sana’a

The government of Japan had extended a grant to Sabaeen hospital in 2007, amounting to US$81,284, and with this grant Sabaeen hospital purchased medical equipments, such as an incubator, a neonatal resuscitation trolley, a diagnostic ultrasound, and a blood gas analyzer. The grant aims at upgrading the medical services of the hospital, which is the only public hospital that specializes in maternal and child health in Sana’a city. The Japanese government strongly hopes that more than 50,000 patients who visit the hospital annually will benefit from these equipments.

This is the second grant extended by the Japanese government to Sabaeen hospital. The Japanese government had provided medical equipments to the hospital in the year 1999 with a total amount of more than US$460,000. It has long provided assistance for a number of maternal and child health projects in cities and villages all over Yemen, because Japan considers it as one of the most important areas for the sound development of the country.

The Japanese government funded 17 projects last year in the Republic of Yemen, amounting to US$1,337,350 under the Japanese scheme called “Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects.” The scheme aims at supporting small-scale community-based projects in the areas of basic human needs, such as primary health care, basic education and rural water supply in developing countries.