A first delivery of medical supplies from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has left a new regional distribution hub in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa to be distributed to countries around the continent.
The cargo includes one million masks, goggles, gloves, gowns and other protective gear for health workers, as well as ventilators for patients, says WFP.
It will be distributed to Djibouti, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Tanzania and then on from those hubs to “as many countries as possible”, Reuters news agency quotes WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs as saying.
There’s hope that these supplies have come just in time, according to the Director of the Africa for the Centre for Disease Contol John Nkengasong.
“The medical supplies are timely as the continent still has a window of opportunity to fight the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement.
The cargo was brought in by the Ethiopian Airlines.
#COVID19 First UN solidarity flight carrying vital medical supplies to African nations departs ?Addis Ababa.
The @WHO cargo transported by WFP includes face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks, medical aprons, thermometers and ventilators.
— World Food Programme (@WFP) April 14, 2020
Source: BBC
