Japan has given Zambia a grant of K32.5 million in the form of medical equipment that will be distributed to selected hospitals in Zambia.Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu said the supply and provision of medical equipment is in response to the country’s efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Ng’andu said Zambia has seen an increase in the number of local person-to-person transmissions of Covid-19 and the risk for escalation remains high.
He said this entails that the country needs more equipment for COVID-19 responses to mitigate the escalation.Speaking during the signing ceremony in Lusaka today, Dr Ng’andu said the equipment is an addition to the 50 million Kwacha health center kits that the Japanese government supplied to various hospitals towards the end of 2019.
And Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Ryuta Mizuuchi said the project places medical equipment for use in the frontlines of COVID-19 in five hospitals in five provinces.Mr Mizuuchi said the project is expected to strengthen medical services on site and enable the Zambian government in the long run to deal with conventional infectious diseases or pandemics.
