Japanese Ambassador Iwama Kiminori has donated medical kits including dengue test kits and cholera saline to Bangladesh, hoping that the support from the Japanese government would improve the country’s eastern flood situation and prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the affected areas.

Ambassador Iwama handed over the kits on Wednesday to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Stockpile Project supported by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and funded by the Government of Japan and Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).

In January, the Japanese government provided Covid-19 test kits to DGHS under the Stockpile Project, and this time the funds from the same project were used to support eight divisions in the country.

The tragic flooding in Bangladesh in late-August has made it difficult for locals to get safe drinking water and enjoy adequate sanitation facilities. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis are at high risk of contracting fatal waterborne diseases such as dengue fever, cholera, diarrhoea and others, said a press release.

The medical items provided this time are dengue test kits, cholera saline, normal saline, dextrose normal saline, and Covid-19 test kits. In particular, large supplies of Cholera saline have been provided for areas that were particularly badly affected by the flood, and among the 50,000 bottles of cholera saline, IFRC/BDRCS has already delivered 20,000 bottles among the flood-affected people in Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Comilla.

“The current flood will leave a lasting impact on people. I hope this fund from Japanese government will continue supporting the Bangladesh government and Directorate General of Health Services in better preparing and responding to other disasters and diseases. Japan will continue to support the improvement of this flood situation and the health and well-being of Bangladeshis as we have since the 1970s.” said Ambassador IWAMA.

Japan is making every possible effort to prevent not only Covid-19 but also various infectious diseases in Bangladesh under the Stockpile Project. Furthermore, Japan remains committed, under the strategic partnership between the two countries, to supporting the Government of Bangladesh as well as the people of Bangladesh in recovering from the August flood and in setting a pathway towards a more prosperous Bangladesh.