There’s more assistance coming Dominica’s way to help in the continuing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dominica is one of the beneficiaries of a $7.5 million (about USD$5.3 million) grant from the Canadian government which is being made available through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to a number of countries in the Caribbean and South and Central America.
PAHO said in a press statement on Friday, that the contribution will benefit a total of fifteen Caribbean countries including Dominica.
The Director of PAHO, Dr Carissa Etienne, said the collaboration will primarily support increased access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies to assist countries in their efforts to save lives and limit the human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 diseases, focusing on populations experiencing marginalization or vulnerability including health care workers.
“This outbreak has caused large upheavals in the health systems of our region, and our countries need all the support they can get. Canadian backing for health protection measures in the Caribbean, Central and South America will help their health workers deal more effectively with these challenges,” she said.
Canada’s contribution comes in addition to a previous allocation of 1.5M CAD made to PAHO earlier this year to support the overall regional response to COVID-19, in response to priorities outlined in the donor appeal published by PAHO.
PAHO launched a Donor Appeal in March 2020 to support and scale-up COVID-19 preparedness and response efforts in the Region of the Americas, seeking US$94.8 million for six months.
So far, it has received US$52.7 million for urgent preparedness and response activities in response to COVID-19, including US$23.2 million channelled through the World Health Organization (WHO) and US$29.5 million directly to PAHO.
The other beneficiary countries are Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago and eight countries in Central and South America – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Paraguay.
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