Kathmandu, November 17:

The government of Japan has decided to extend a grant of Rs 5,986,824 or $83,035 to Nepal for the implementation of the Project for Establishment of Intensive Care Home for HIV/AIDS Patients in northern Kathmandu under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) scheme of the Government of Japan in Japan’s Fiscal Year 2006.

A Grant Contract to this effect was signed and exchanged today between Tsutomu Hiraoka, the ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Rajiv Kafle, the president of Nava Kiran Plus, according to a press release issued by the Embassy of Japan today.

The grant will be utilised for the construction of a two-storey rehabilitation center building for HIV/AIDS patients, it added.

Speaking at the function ambassador, Hiraoka said Japan has been cooperating with UN agencies and other donors all over the world to address the issue related with HIV/AIDS.

He expressed his belief that the initiatives taken by Nava Kiran Plus shall give new hope and life for those infected with HIV/AIDS.