Japan to loan Rs 1584 crores to GOI to develop urban healthcare in Tamil Nadu

Chennai:A loan of 25,537 million yen (Rs. 1,548 crore) has been sanctioned to the Government of India by Japan International Agency (JICA), as official assistance (ODA) to improve urban healthcare services in Tamil Nadu. The loan is being granted at a concessional 3% rate and 40 years repayment period with a 10 years grace period after it.

The project is supposed to be enforced in 17 cities of the country with emphasis on up gradation of facilities, equipment and human resource. The focus also being on non-communicable diseases. The hospitals that would come under the up-gradation program me would include: tertiary, referral and secondary care. The project would also undertake strengthening of hospital management and primary health care in managing NCDs; components and cities having been decided on the basis of population size, needs and priority for facility development. The urban healthcare project to be undertaken by the government would also provide facilities of international quality for treatments of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. An advanced operation theatre centre inclusive of a hybrid operation theatre, with advanced medical imaging equipment, and a digital subtraction angiography & CT scanner would also be provided.

Furthermore, in the direction of improving skills and capacity development of health personnel advanced equipment would also be made available as reported by the New Indian Express.

“JICA promotes development of socio ­economic and human resources infrastructure, which directly supports improving life ­expectancy and enhancing people’s quality of life. JICA will contribute to providing easier access to advanced healthcare services in urban areas and promote a healthy lifestyle in the state of Tamil Nadu,” said Takema Sakamoto, Chief Representative, JICA India Office.

The 17 cities named under this project are: Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchy, Salem, Tirunelveli, Erode, Vellore, Tiruppur, Thoothukudi, Nagercoil, Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Pudukottai, Krishnagiri and Periyakulam.