PAHO Donates COVID-19 Kits & Equipment to Barbados
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has donated 11,000 COVID-19 test kits and over 780 personal protective equipment (PPE) to Barbados.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, accepted the donation from Dr Yitades Gebre, PAHO/WHO Representative to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, in an informal handover at the PAHO headquarters.
The health minister thanked the organisation for the contribution noting that the donation will be a huge help in the government’s plan to widen the COVID-19 screening in the island.
“We will expand testing across the country so that we can get back to as normal a state as early as possible without compromising public health,” said Minister Bostic.
He further said that PAHO’s advise and support were crucial to the fight against the pandemic.
“We have been following the protocols that were established. By following those protocols, I believe we have been doing the right things at the right times, and I would like to say thank you for that kind of support.”
On the other hand, Dr Gebre praised the Government and the people of Barbados for actively participating in the fight against COVID-19, adding that many lessons could be learnt from it.
“We are very happy to continue to provide technical, administrative and financial support to the people of Barbados to make sure that we reduce the impact of COVID-19 in general.”
Apart from saving lives Dr Gebre said that, PAHO is also committed to protect healthcare workers.
“One of the key areas of PAHO’s work is to protect healthcare workers as much as possible through all aspects of our intervention. This PPE would be critical for the healthcare workers, whether they were providing patient care, testing, or simply working at the isolation and quarantine facilities.”
Each PPE kit includes a mask, goggles and a full suit.