Japan to extend $2.9b aid for world’s health care

December 14, 2017

Tokyo- The Japanese government will extend an aid worth some $2.9 billion for improving the world's health care standards, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday.

Abe unveiled the aid plan at the Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017 held in Tokyo.

The funds, to be offered through the World Bank and other entities, will be used for proving various vaccines and financing measures for the development of human resources.

At the forum, Abe also proposed, as goals to be achieved by 2023, to aim for increasing the number of people who can receive basic health care services by one billion across the world and annually reducing the number of people who fall into poverty due to the burden of medical expenses by 50 million.

He also said Tokyo plans to host in 2020 an international conference for discussing measures to tackle health care problems such as malnutrition.

The joint organizers of the UHC Forum included the Japanese government, the World Bank and the World Health Organization. Jiji Press