BUJUMBURA, June 14th (ABP) – On Thursday 13 June, the Prince Regent Charles Hospital (HPRC) inaugurated its new maternity unit, a project financed to the tune of 64,576 US dollars by the Japanese Embassy in Burundi.
In his opening remarks, the HPRC’s medical director, Dr Oscar Nimpaye, said that the new maternity unit would help to improve the quality of the reception and accommodation conditions for patients attending the hospital, by providing them with infrastructure that complies with health standards, while guaranteeing the principle of equality and equity in terms of access to quality care for all sections of the people.
He reiterated that the Embassy of Japan in Burundi had made the right choice in supporting the HPRC because, he said, it is a hospital that has the greatest capacity to accommodate the vast majority of the country’s poorest patients, given that their access to healthcare is hampered by the lack of adequate infrastructure.
That project is evidence of good Burundi-Japan cooperation,” continued Dr Nimpaye, who took the opportunity to invite the Japanese government, through its representation in Burundi, to continue to support the HPCR management’s initiative, by setting the latter as a national and even regional benchmark.
In his speech, Mr Keisuke Otsuka, Third Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Burundi, said that that project to rehabilitate the HPCR maternity unit would help to ensure human security, which is a guiding principle of Japan’s development cooperation.
In that context, he recalled that the Japanese government has maintained a partnership with the HPRC since the first cooperation, providing its incubators for neonatal care in 1994 via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which provides maternal and child assistance.
According to the Assistant to the Minister for Public Health, Dr Isidore Ntiharirizwa, that project to rehabilitate the HPCR maternity unit will improve the quality of the hospital’s maternal and neonatal health infrastructure and services. He stressed that that project supports the Burundian government’s initiative in its efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals and move closer to Burundi’s vision 2040-2060.
The inauguration ceremonies began with a tour of the new building to ensure that the facilities offer greater comfort to mothers and children.