26 января 2012
Japan to continue to implement humanitarian projects in Belarus
VITEBSK, 26 January (BelTA) - Japan will continue to implement humanitarian projects in Belarus, Charge d’affaires of Japan in Belarus Shigehiro Mimori said during a ceremony of signing a contract to allocate the grant for the Vitebsk Regional Endocrinology Center. The grant of $85,500 will be allocated as part of the grant assistance program of the Government of Japan to purchase an Aloka ultrasound system designed to diagnose endocrine pathologies. According to Shigehiro Mimori, after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Government of Japan, the Japanese Red Cross Society and non-governmental organizations felt it necessary to provide assistance to the people affected by the nuclear disaster. The grant assistance program of the Government of Japan was launched in Belarus in 2004. The project to deliver medical equipment will be the 25th ina row and the first one in Vitebsk Oblast. A total of $2.2 million worth of grants have been allocated to finance such projects in medical institutions of Gomel, Mogilev, Brest and Vitebsk oblasts. “The Government of Japan will continue cooperation with Belarus in the field of humanitarian assistance to people affected by the nuclear catastrophe,” the diplomat said. The Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee Anatoly Diulin expressed gratitude to the Government of Japan. “This is the confirmation of the friendly relations between our countries. We look forward to further cooperation with Japan,” he said. There are about 80,000 people with goiter pathologies in Vitebsk oblast. Of them about 50,000 have thyroid problems. The equipment to be acquired by the grant will help to diagnose thyroid cancer at an early stage and undertake necessary treatment, said Lyudmila Pedchenets, the chief doctor of the Vitebsk Regional Endocrinology Center.БЕЛТА