AMMAN — A ceremony was held on Thursday at Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II Hospital to hand over medical equipment procured under the Japanese grant for the Ministry of Health, in the presence of the Ministry of Health’s Secretary-General for Primary Health Care and Epidemics, Raed Shboul, and Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom, Okuyama Jiro, according to a statement for The Jordan Times.

In July 2020, the government of Jordan and the government of Japan signed an agreement under which Japan would provide Jordan with a grant of 400 million Japanese Yen (equivalent to about 2.6 million USD at the current exchange rate) to support the Ministry of Health’s efforts to combat COVID-19, and to provide medical equipment to support public health and strengthen the healthcare system, as part of the Kingdom’s Economic and Social Development Programme.

The grant aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Ministry of Health through the provision of medical equipment, such as digital radiography systems and CT scanners, which were distributed to 10 government hospitals across the Kingdom. This initiative contributed to Jordan’s fight against COVID-19 and its life-saving efforts, according to the statement.

Shaboul underscored the depth of historical relations between the two friendly countries, Jordan and Japan, as well as the existing cooperation in many areas of common interest, most notably cooperation in the health field.