On December 12, 2022, the Ambassador of Japan to Uganda, His Excellency Fukuzawa Hidemoto, signed a Grant Assistance Agreement with the government of Uganda at his residence in Nakasero, Kampala, to provide grant aid of up to 327 million Uganda shillings for the construction of a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Bwera hospital.
In the presence of Dr Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, the Ambassador signed the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) contract with Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation-Uganda.
According to the Ambassador, the project aims at improving the neonatal care environment in the district and thus contributing to reducing the neonatal mortality rate.
The facility shall be equipped with 27 beds, a neonatal care recovery room, incubator room, isolation room, kangaroo care room, and doctor’s office at Bwera Hospital.
“GGP is a program administered by the Embassy of Japan to support community-based development projects and was initiated in 1992 in Uganda,” the Ambassador said.
In addition, the total number of projects supported under the GGP scheme has now reached 277 and covers the entire country of Uganda.
Fukuzawa noted that Bwera Hospital, being the only public hospital in Kasese District, records a total of 20% of newborns who suffer from neonatal conditions, including prematurity, neonatal sepsis, and asphyxia, among others.
Japan has previously funded a number of projects through GGP since its inception in Uganda.
