The Ministry of Health clarifies, in a statement to which VerAngola had access, that the donation is part of the cooperation between the two countries and adds that the two dozen ambulances are budgeted at approximately two million dollars.
"The Japanese Government donated to Angola this Friday, August 4, 20 advanced life support ambulances, valued at around two million dollars to reinforce the National Health System", reads the note.
According to the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, these means "are not basic support, they are advanced life support ambulances and have all the equipment to transport from the simplest to the most complex patient".
On the occasion, the holder of the Health portfolio also made it known that "these 20 ambulances, one for each province, will reinforce the referral and counter-referral of patients across the country".
The minister also stressed that the country has had cooperation with Japan since 1996 "with non-refundable funding" and various initiatives that "surely come" to strengthen the provision of health services.
Thus, Sílvia Lutucuta assured that they have "still a lot to cooperate". "We still have a lot to cooperate in terms of technical assistance and the training of specialists, we will continue to work with Japan," she said, quoted in the statement.
Suzuki Toru, Japanese ambassador to Angola, praised the "state of cooperation and friendship between the two peoples and countries", which he intends to see expanded in the health sector.
