ADB gives medical equipments to fight COVID-19

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today handed over medical equipments to the government to help strengthen Bangladesh’s efforts to improve treatment facilities of Covid-19 infected patients and contain further spread of the virus in the country, reports BSS.

The equipments include 14 ventilators, 24 respirators (oxygen concentrator), 57 pulse oximeters and 12 Laryngoscope sets for adults and children, said an official at the ADB’s Bangladesh resident mission.

Gobinda Bar, team leader of External Affairs and S M Ebadur Rahman, senior social sector officer of ADB’s Dhaka office, handed over the equipments to Health Services Division Secretary Ashadul Islam at the Office of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the city’s Mohakhali area. Director General of DGHS Prof Dr Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad was present, among others.

The equipments were procured after ADB had approved an emergency grant of $350,000 on 27 March to support the Bangladesh government’s fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The grant assistance was sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled “Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases”.

The ADB has been working on other emergency assistance in health and finance sectors to help the government deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.

The ADB has a strong track record of responding rapidly to provide targeted support to Bangladesh in times of emergencies including natural disasters like floods and cyclones and other disasters like influx of people in Cox’s Bazar camps from across Myanmar border.