Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli inaugurated the new building of the Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital today at Kathmandu. Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population Upendra Yadav inaugurated Bir Hospital.

The event was also attended by Ambassador of Japan Masamichi Saigo and the Chief Representative of JICA Nepal Office Yumiko Asakuma.

The Government of Japan supported the project on reconstruction of Paropakar Maternity & Women’s Hospital and Bir Hospital has been completed and the new buildings were handed over to the Ministry of Health and Population today amidst and official handover ceremony in the respective hospital premises.

The Government of Japan supported the reconstruction of the Hospital along with the provision of essential medical equipment. The reconstruction work falls under Japan’s Grant Assistance ‘Program for Rehabilitation and Recovery from Nepal Earthquake’ and stands as a symbol of friendship between Japan and Nepal.

Through reconstruction of these infrastructures, Japan aims to support the provision of safe and quality health services to the public in Nepal. The project was based on the concept of “Build Back Better” for creating a resilient society to cope with future disasters.

The Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital’s building is for multiple medical services and educational purposes whereas the new 3-storey building of Bir Hospital is for various functions including ICU and cardiology department. The new buildings are equipped with different back-up systems that will allow the hospital to continue its operations without disruption in post-disaster emergencies. Furthermore, compared to the old building, various functionalities have been enhanced, so that a seamless flow of obstetric care can be provided.

The new structure of Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital is expected to provide effective and efficient services to more women, mothers, and babies receiving standard medical facilities from this hospital and will serve as a model hospital for Nepal, which combines quality medical services and disaster preparedness, a model that should be adopted by other hospitals as well.

On the occasion Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Masamichi Saigo hoped that the reconstruction of Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital would provide quality reproductive health service to women and essential care for mother and new born babies.

Likewise, Bir hospital would provide quality health service to the general public. As a true friend of Nepal, he expressed his confidence that Japan would continue to cooperate the rehabilitation and recovery from the earthquake based of their experiences of disaster prevention to achieve Nepal’s goal of Prosperous Nepal Happy Nepali.