Emergency Medical Assistance to the Afghanistan Interim Administration

March 22, 2002

1. On March 22 (Fri), the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency grant aid of 1,607 million yen to the Afghanistan Interim Administration to improve the poor medical and health care conditions.

2. The percentage of Afghans with access to medical and health care services is under 15 percent. The medical facilities lack even basic medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies, and improvement of the situation is urgently needed as it affects human lives.
       Under such circumstances, the Afghanistan Interim Administration conveyed request for emergency assistance to the Preparatory Mission for Assistance to Afghanistan, dispatched by the Government of Japan from March 1 to 15, in order to procure medical equipment, medicines, and other necessary items. This emergency aid is in response to that request.

3. The assistance will be provided as part of the reconstruction assistance of up to 500 million dollars that the Government of Japan announced that it would extend for the next two and a half years at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan held in January this year.

Related Information (Japan-Afghanistan Relations)