PAHO/WHO does it again!
─ another donation made to Guyana’s COVID-19 fight
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, August 12, 2020
The Pan American Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) today donated a large quantity of medical equipment to the Ministry of Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana.
Among the items were stethoscopes, oxygen concentrators and drugs, oxygen masks, face masks (N95, KN95 and 264,000 surgical masks), 30,000 face shields, 55,000 respirators and 5,200 gowns.
This contribution follows several other similar donations by the organisation to the local fight against the pandemic. Large quantities of Personal Protective Gear, along with other medical supplies, have been handed over.
Wednesday’s official presentation took place at the Supplies Chain Management Complex in Diamond on the East Coast of Demerara.
Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, who received the donation, noted that that continued gestures of support, such as PAHO’s, are necessary for Guyana’s fight against COVID-19 to be successful.
“If we are going to be successful at fighting COVID-19 then we must be able to protect our frontline workers and what we have here are some of that equipment or some of the things that are needed by our nurses, our doctors, and other health care staff.”
PAHO/WHO country representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow, disclosed that a donation of ventilators and additional testing kits are expected this month.
Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, receives a sample of one of the items from PAHO/WHO Representative, Dr. William Adu-Krow.
“It is my understanding that GPHC is short on the ventilators, and therefore, bringing that in should help us a lot more in making sure that the persons who are admitted (get to go home),” Dr. Adu-Krow noted.
He also disclosed that the 30,000 test kits, which are expected in the country at the end of the month, will comprise “30,000 swabs, 30, 000 of the enzyme kits and also 30,000 of the extraction kits. This is meaningful because at one point in time when there was a shortage in testing kits, I wanted to purchase 10,000 so 30,000 is a very meaningful contribution.”
The PAHO/WHO Representative pointed out that several agencies, in and out of Guyana, have been contributing, whether financially or in-kind, to the efforts to support PAHO/WHO’S donation to the ministry.
Among those are the Government of Canada which played a significant role in the provision of this batch of donations. Also, funds were provided by funds Department for International Development (DFID), India, the World Bank, Caribbean confederation of Credit Unions and Office of the British High Commissioner in Guyana.