October 16, 2003
 Japan's Assistance for Improvement of Expanded Program on Immunization
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The Government of Japan has decided to extend a grant assistance of two hundred and sixty-two million yen ( 262,000,000), equivalent to approximately one hundred seventy-six million, five hundred and eighty-eight thousand Nepalese rupees (NRs.176,588,000), in Japan's FY 2003, to His Majesty's Government of Nepal for the implementation of the Project for Improvement of Expanded Program on Immunization.
Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged today between Mr. Kazumi SUZUKI, Charge d'Affaires a.i. of Japan to the Kingdom of Nepal, and Mr. Bhanu Prasad Acharya, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of their respective governments.
The Expanded Immunization Program (EPI) is a priority program that intends to support higher-level programs such as the Second Long Term Health Plan and the Multi Year Plan of Action of His Majesty's Government of Nepal. But, the effective and efficient cold chain system is indispensable to achieve the best result of EPI i.e. attaining improved general health status and the increased life expectancy of children in Nepal.
Under the Grant, Japan provides different cold chain equipment for immunization programs to the Government of Nepal. The equipment includes 1 walk-in cold room (30m3), 5 units of walk-in cold rooms (15m3), 5 solar-powered refrigerators, 76 ice pack freezers, 6 generators, 35 ice-lined refrigerator-freezers, 132 electric/kerosene freezers, 361 electric/kerosene refrigerators, 150 small cold boxes, 2,000 large vaccine carriers among many others. The key objective of the project is to strengthen and expand the nationwide cold chain capacity to ensure the quality of immunization services in the Kingdom of Nepal. In this respect, the project intends to promote enrichment and improvement of the cold chain system needed for EPI activities in the Kingdom through the renewal of old cold chain equipment and through the provision of new equipment in areas such as the Central Cold Chain in Kathmandu and Regional Cold Chain Centers in Hetauda, Biratnagar, Nepalganj and Dhangadhi in the Central, Eastern, Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western Development Regions, respectively, including Butwal.
It is worth noting that since 1997, Japan has been providing Nepal with 2/3 of the total supply of oral polio vaccines through UNICEF, in order to carry out the National Immunization Days (NID) for polio eradication programs in Nepal.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Suzuki expressed his expectation that the equipment to be provided under the grant will play an instrumental role in achieving higher immunization coverage through strengthened routine immunization services. He expressed his hope that the assistance will contribute to reducing child morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, pertussis etc. in the children of Nepal.
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