Embassy of Japan in Malawi
在マラウイ日本国大使館

Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects

Handover Ceremony

The Project for the Procurement of Recycled Ambulances
for St. Anne’s Hospital in Nkhotakota District

February 26, 2016

On Friday, 26th February 2016, His Excellency Shuichiro Nishioka, Ambassador of Japan to Malawi handed over two recycled ambulances to St. Anne’s Hospital in Nkhotakota District, which were procured under the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects. The ceremony was held at St. Anne’s Hospital in Nkhotakota District and was graced by Dr Charles Mwansambo, Chief Health Services Officer who represented the Minister of Health.

St. Anne’s Hospital is one of the two hospitals in Nkhotakota District, providing secondary medical care and treatment and serving not only people nearby of about 71,000 people but also those from all over the district. However, lack of emergency transports adversely affected the delivery of emergency health care services for patients who needed referral, from health centres to the hospital/district hospital, which resulted in loss of some people’s lives. Hence, transportation of patients is vital in providing efficient and effective health care services. In this regard, the Government of Japan provided a grant amounting to USD26,385  to St. Anne’s Hospital in order to assist it in procuring the two fully equipped ambulances from Japan to Malawi through the Society for Promotion of Japanese Diplomacy (SPJD). Specifically, the one ambulance was donated by the Atsugi City Fire Fighting Station and the other was donated by the Sakurashi, Yachimatashi and Shisuimachi Firefighting Association.

Speaking during the ceremony, Ambassador Nishioka appealed to the authorities of St. Anne’s Hospital to appropriately utilize the ambulances for their intended purpose, which is to transport patients in critical conditions between health facilities and to offer efficiency and quality emergency medical services. He also encouraged the hospital to achieve increased access to health care services among patients and reduced maternal mortality rate through provision of emergency transport in the district by using the ambulances. Lastly, Ambassador Nishioka asked the hospital to properly maintain the vehicles and regularly check the condition of the vehicles in order for them to last long and to support as many patients as possible in the long term.

Through this support, the Ambassador hopes that the hospital will continue to devote itself to ensuring that the people in Nkhotakota district receive proper and quality health care services and also that, through the services of the two ambulances, more lives will be saved therefore benefiting more people.