Japan, Asia-Europe Foundation donate PPEs worth $53,000 to WHO in Bangladesh

Japan International Cooperation System (JICS), on behalf of Japanese government and the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), has donated PPE worth $53,000 to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Bangladesh for Covid-19 pandemic response.

The supplies include 30,000 isolation gowns, 200,000 surgical masks, 8,000 particulate respirator masks, 2,500 safety googles and 100,000 gloves worth over USD 53,000 which becomes crucial to protect frontline healthcare workers and battle the upward trend in the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the last few weeks.

This handover of essential medical supplies for medical professionals and frontline workers will support the government efforts to control the recent upsurge of Covid-19 in the country, said Japan Embassy in Dhaka.

"Japan is delighted to cooperate with Bangladesh amid this global crisis and we believe this cooperation will even foster the partnership between Bangladesh and Japan. We hope the medical supplies will contribute to the Covid-19 response of Bangladesh, and hope we will overcome this difficulty hand in hand", said Naoki ITO, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh.

"Collective efforts are key to fighting this global pandemic. The financial support of key partners as the government of Japan and ASEF enable us to continue protecting our frontline workers and thus ensuring the best clinical care management of Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh", states Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh.

Professor Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, Director General at Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said the donation of these essential medical supplies comes at the right moment, when the government is scaling up efforts to control the increase of confirmed COVID-19 infections across the country.

"We are very grateful to the government of Japan and ASEF for their ongoing support to our pandemic response, which will contribute to better equip our health workers," he said.