US announces $8m more support to help Pakistan fight coronavirus

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The United States on Friday announced $8 million more support for Pakistan to help it fight coronavirus by building more mobile laboratories, operation centers and training of the healthcare workers.

“Today, I am proud to announce several new ways America is partnering with Pakistan to combat coronavirus with more than $8 million in new contributions,” US Ambassador to Pakistan Paul W. Jones said in a video message released by the embassy.

This is in addition to an earlier support of $2 million by the United States to Pakistan.

All of the said contributions were identified as top priority needs by the Pakistani authorities, and they are fully paid for by the American people. 

The funding would be utilized for providing three new mobile labs so Pakistanis living in virus hotspots can be tested, treated, and monitored to stop the spread, through $3 million in contributions.

High-tech emergency operations centers would be established in Islamabad, Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan with the funding of $1 million. Around $2 million would be spent to train community healthcare workers to assist people in their homes to lessen the burden on hospitals.

The funding would also help conduct life-saving activities in Afghan refugee and host communities in Pakistan with $2.4 million, administered by the UNHCR.

“What I’ve described today is the latest chapter in a long, vibrant US-Pakistan health partnership. It builds on US contributions over the past 20 years of more than $1.1 billion in the health sector, and more than $18.4 billion overall to the US-Pakistan development partnership,” the ambassador remarked. 

He said Prime Minister Khan identified another top priority of debt relief and the US being a leading supporter of the immediate and exceptional measures just agreed by G20 nations, which will provide substantial relief to Pakistan. 

“Together, we can stop the spread of this deadly disease to protect our loved ones and regain our prosperity and freedom,” Ambassador Paul W. Jones remarked.