March 16, 2010
Handing Over Ceremony for Japanese Grant Project for Upgrading Emergency Services
- The Government of Japan has decided to extend to the Government of Syrian Arab Republic a grant assistance totaling up to 861 million yen (about US$9.7 million) for the Project for Upgrading Emergency Services. The handing over ceremony, attended by H.E. Mr. Masaki KUNIEDA, Ambassador of Japan to the Syrian Arab Republic, H.E. Dr. Rida SAEED , Minister of Health, H.E. Dr. Amer HUSSNI LOUTFI, Head of the State Planning Commission , H.E. Dr. Bisher AL-SABBAN, Governor of Damascus, H.E. Dr. Zahed HAJJ MOUSSA, Governor of Rural Damascus, and Ms. Akiko TOMITA, Chief Representative of the Syria Office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA), will be held at 13:00 on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at Darayya Hospital in Rural Damascus.
- The gist of the project is as follows;
- The Government of Japan sincerely hopes that the procured ambulances under the grant project will be utilized efficiently to improve the emergency patient transportation services in Syria.
(1) Outline of the Project
Under the project, total number of 160 ambulances have been procured, as shown in Annex, to 1) health centers strategically selected and prioritized, 2) key points on major roads with a high incidence of traffic accidents, and 3) hospitals that have been opened as new emergency medical facilities, targeting the six governorates of Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Dier-Al-Zor and Lattakia. In addition, base stations and repeater stations have been established in five areas respectively for the purpose of the formulation of a radio communication network to enable rapid response services.
(2) Effectiveness of the Project
Under the project, the following effects is expected to appear;
1) The beneficiary is about 12.5 million people in the six governorates of Damascus, Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Dier-Al-Zor and Lattakia, which accounts 63% of the total population (19.9 million).
2) The population (ratio) of the coverage of ambulances within 15 minutes, which is the lead time between emergency call and arrival targeted in the 10th five year plan (2006-2010), in the six governorates will expand from 5.03 million (41.6%) in 2007 to 10.5 million (83.7%).
3) The number of patients transported in the six governorates will increase from 482,000 in 2006 to 1,010,000.
4) The injured of traffic accident, which is increasing drastically, will be transferred to hospitals more rapidly by allocating ambulances to major roads.
5) Emergency treatment for heart failure will be improved because defibrillators will be installed in ambulances allocated to hospitals and health centers.