Japan contributes US $4 million in medical supplies

The government of Japan on Thursday contributed medical equipment worth CFA 3,094,000,000 (US $4,163,079) to the government of the Central African Republic (CAR), the embassy of Japan in Bangui told IRIN on Friday. The supplies, presented by Japanese Ambassador Nobuyoshi Takabe to CAR Health Minister Joseph Kalite during a ceremony presided by CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse, included computer equipment, beds, microscopes, five small trucks for the country's five health regions and two large trucks equipped for the conservation and transport of vaccines, according to local news agency Centrafrique-Presse. "This is the most significant contribution ever made by Japan to the Central African Republic in the domain of public health," Takabe was reported as saying by Centrafrique-Presse. For his part, Kalite noted that "for a very long time, our national health system has been unable to function effectively [...] due to a number of shortcomings, as can be clearly seen in diminished vaccination coverage, the high level of HIV infection and the low usage of health services," Centrafrique-Presse quoted him as saying.