The Government of Japan has deepened its healthcare interventions in Nigeria by signing a grant contract with the South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) to implement a medical waste management project.
The agreement for “The Project for the Provision of Medical Waste Incinerator in East Enugu LGA, Enugu State” was formalised at a signing ceremony concluded in Enugu on Thursday.
The contract was signed by His Excellency. Mr Suzuki Hideo, Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria and Dr Stanley Ilechukwu, Executive Director of SSDO.
Signing the agreement, the ambassador of Japan said that the project would be funded under the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), the project involves a financial grant of USD 66,309 (approximately N98.4 million).
He said that the initiative was aimed to install a modern medical waste incinerator at the Abakpa Health Centre in Enugu East LGA.
He noted that the project would serve as a centralised disposal hub for the host facility and other public and private health facilities within the Enugu East Local Government Area.
Suzuki noted that the GGP scheme, a component of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), is designed to deliver direct impact on the well-being of grassroots communities.
He congratulated SSDO on securing the grant and expressed confidence in the organisation’s capacity to deliver high-quality results that meet the needs of vulnerable populations.
Responding, the Executive Director of SSDO, Dr Stanley Ilechukwu, described the project as a critical investment in building safer and more resilient healthcare systems.
Ilechukwu explained that the installation would solve the challenge of medical waste management in the area by reducing the risks of secondary infections caused by open burning and improper disposal.
“By providing a safe, local option for hazardous waste; we are easing the long-standing burden of transporting medical waste over long distances to the state’s cold store.
“This intervention ensures that infection control is strengthened not just for one hospital, but for an entire cluster of health facilities,” he said.
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It would be recalled that the project’s approval followed a rigorous inspection visit to Enugu by GGP Coordinators Wakana Deguchi and Kenechukwu Adibe, who assessed the technical requirements and confirmed the site’s suitability.
This initiative marks the second major collaboration between the Japanese Embassy and SSDO, building on the success of a 2021 GGP grant that funded a 56KVA solar power system at Poly General Hospital, Enugu.
That project continues to ensure uninterrupted power and expanded service capacity for the hospital.
The new incinerator project had been applauded by received strong backing from the Enugu State Government and the Ministry of Health, under the leadership of the Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu.
The infrastructure would be implemented with the support of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency led by its Executive Secretary, Dr Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, which would assume responsibility for its management and operation upon handover to ensure sustainability.
