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Grant Aid to China to Deal with the Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

May 16, 2003

1. The Government of Japan decided on May 16 (Fri) to extend an emergency grant aid totaling 1.5 billion yen to the Government of the People's Republic of China and grant assistance for grassroots human security projects totaling 27 million yen to Beijing City and Shanghai City, since SARS is spreading in China. Together with the past provision of medical equipment and dispatch of a Japan Disaster Relief Expert Team, Japan's assistance for China's countermeasures against SARS will come to about 1,760 million yen.
   
   Emergency grant aid: funds to purchase air sterilizers, X-ray equipment, ventilators, intensive treatment monitors, transfusion pumps, etc.
   
   Grassroots human security grant aid:
   Beijing City -- 20,000 coveralls (about 10 million yen)
   Shanghai City -- four portable X-ray machines for doctor's rounds (about 17 million yen)
   
   
2. Since last November when the first case of SARS was found in Guangdong Province of China, 5,124 SARS cases and 267 deaths all over the country were reported as of May 14, and the disease has been spreading especially in Beijing City and its surrounding areas including Tianjin City, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province and the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia.
   
   
3. At present, the Government of the People's Republic of China is making full-scale efforts to prevent SARS from spreading, and Japan has also been cooperating with China repeatedly, but the number of SARS cases has been increasing. In such a situation, in response to a request from the People's Republic of China for additional assistance, the Government of Japan has decided to extend this aid, targeting the countermeasures for the country's inland areas where there is strong concern that the infection will spread further because of the undeveloped medical system in these areas.
   
   
4. Japan hopes that the spread of SARS in China will be stopped as early as possible, so that the health of Japanese people, including those living in China, will be guaranteed.

Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
Related Information (SARS)