7 News Belize

Plenty PPE’s From UK & Canada
posted (July 6, 2020)
The UK and Canadian governments in collaboration with PAHO and the World Health Organization have donated half a million dollars worth of PPE for Belize's COVID response. The much-needed supplies were presented to Minister of Health Pablo Marin in an official handing over ceremony this afternoon at the P.G.I.A. Here's how British High Commissioner Claire Evans put the donation in context.

H.E. Claire Evans, British High Commissioner
"Yes, well the UK had donated $340,000BZD we're doing it in partnership with PAHO and with our colleagues from the Canadian government so it's part of a wider contribution that we're making from the UK to the Caribbean."

"We're doing all sorts of ongoing things. Some of the money that would have been coming to this part of the world anyway is now being reallocated so that it goes towards the COVID effort and there are various other projects that are currently going forward but the thing that the UK is doing most of is actually putting 744 million pounds towards vaccines. So we at the moment are working very closely with Oxford University, with the Imperial College in London and with AstraZeneca in trying to find a vaccine. Very early days but actually they are now trialing both in Brazil and the UK so we are very hopeful that we will have some news and hopefully fingers crossed that it might be good news. But of course, these things like vaccines take an awfully long time to come through."

Hon. Pablo Marin, Minister of Health
"Well it's a very good donation that we have just received from the British High Commissioner and the honorable Consul from Canada. It's $2,700.00 USD of PPE"S that's facemasks gloves. We have gowns so it's an extent of what we need here in the country for us to give our health care providers and frontline workers which is what is needed."

Dr. Noreen Jack, PAHO/WHO Representative in Belize
"PAHO has been raising funds from many donors throughout the world to support the COVID response in the Americas and this is part of that response and this demonstrates the collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada in terms of getting the PPE's for health care workers and to contribute to Belize. So this is happening here in Belize and it's over $500,000 BZD overall with the contributions from the UK as I said as well as from Canada and also some of the WHO emergency funds. It is part of a regional project supporting many countries supporting the Caribbean, Central America and South America."

Lynn Young, Honorary Consul for Canada to Belize
"Canada contributed through PAHO to obtain the supplies here which are much-needed supplies and Canada is very happy to be able to partner with PAHO and to do this through PAHO. Canada recognizes that under this situation, this pandemic it's never enough but Canada will be doing as much as they can to try to help Belize and of course other countries where they can help."

This donation of Personal Protective Equipment is made up of 41,400 Face Shields, 63,200 Respirators, 296,000 Medical Masks, 3,800 Goggles, and 11,110 Gowns.

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