Egypt signed Monday evening a ¥1.560 billion (US$14 million) grant with the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA) in favor of Cairo University Specialised Pediatric Hospital. The grant will go for a project for the construction of outpatient facility at Cairo University Specialised Pediatric Hospital. The project involving building an outpatient care facility for internal medicine services at Cairo University Specialized Pediatric Hospital and providing equipment for the facility. This will improve the outpatient medical care services, strengthen the educational functions of Cairo University Specialized Pediatric Hospital, and improve the level of pediatric medical care services in Egypt. Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed the exchange of letters for the provision of the JICA's grant in the presence of Kenichi Tomiyoshi – JICA's vice president; and the Japanese ambassador to Cairo Ambassador Takehiro Kagawa. Cairo University Specialised Pediatric Hospital was established in 1982 with grant aid from Japan as a public medical care and educational institution for pediatrics to improve the conditions of maternal and pediatric health care in Egypt. Since then, the hospital has provided advanced medical care services for more than three decades at low cost to many residents of Cairo and other areas, including the poor, and the hospital is called the "Japanese hospital" by Cairo locals. However, with the rapid increase in population in recent years, public medical care institutions face the pressing issue of inadequate medical equipment, and a need for more doctors and nurses, particularly in urban areas. In addition, the facilities at Cairo University Specialized Pediatric Hospital have also been gradually deteriorating, and the lack of space has become a serious problem. This project will solve the outpatient crowding at the facility and increase the number of medical examinations that can be performed, which is expected to improve the outpatient medical care services at the hospital. Since the inauguration of the new administration in 2014, Egypt has been working to achieve fiscal adjustment and expand the social safety net to stabilize the economy and the society. By expanding the medical care services to the poor by strengthening a public health care institution, this project will provide support for that initiative. In addition to this project, JICA is providing technical cooperation with the object of improving the quality of health care services, specifically providing comprehensive support to improve the state of maternal and pediatric health care in Egypt.
