- Personal protective equipment, testing kits, and life-saving medical equipment are among supplies ADB has delivered to Pakistan to help fight COVID-19.
- ADB is rapidly providing much-needed medical supplies and personal protective equipment to Pakistan to fight COVID-19.
- Medical facilities and health workers will soon receive further supplies and equipment from ADB, to help Pakistan fight COVID-19.
Responding rapidly to the COVID-19 situation in Pakistan, ADB repurposed $50 million from Pakistan’s National Disaster Risk Management Fund to purchase life-saving medical supplies and equipment. These will go to hospitals, other medical facilities, and health workers on the frontline of the battle against the disease. The funds add to $2.5 million in immediate response grant funding that ADB had already approved.
Transcript
In the battle against COVID-19, medical and protective equipment are key to saving lives.
ADB responded rapidly to help Pakistan manage the pandemic by providing much-needed supplies.
Testing kits, mobile x-rays, ventilators, and personal protective equipment (PPEs) have arrived.
More will soon follow.
These will go to hospitals, laboratories, medical facilities, and to health workers on the frontline.
“It is a very testing time where the doctors and all the frontliners, they go, they get exposed to the maximum risk of getting, catching, or contracting the virus from some patient,” said Dr. Muhammad Zaeem Zia, Islamabad’s District Health Officer.
“So in order to ensure that they remain safe it’s very important to give them proper equipment, which we have been receiving from our partners especially the Asian Development Bank.”
The supplies are funded using $50 million from Pakistan’s National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), which ADB repurposed to support the government’s efforts to fight COVID-19.
“We at ADB are moving very fast and trying to do our level best to support the country by mobilizing both the funding and also the capacity development to help the government win the battle with COVID-19,” said Xiaohong Yang, ADB Country Director for Pakistan.
These funds complement the World Bank’s financing for Pakistan under its Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project.
ADB earlier approved $2.5 million in immediate response grant funding, including $500,000 for medical supplies procured through UNICEF.
ADB continues to partner with the Government of Pakistan and other development institutions to boost vital healthcare systems,
and support Pakistan’s fight against the pandemic.
