The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has donated a first shipment of 200 brand new, state-of-the-art ventilators to Brazil to assist its fight against COVID-19. The donation delivers on President Trump’s offer of these critically needed supplies to assist with Brazil’s urgent response to the pandemic.
The ventilators, produced in the United States, reflect leading-edge and in-demand technology. They are compact, deployable, and provide Brazil with flexibility in treating patients affected by the virus. For patients whose lungs are not working adequately despite receiving supplemental oxygen, this vital resource may prove life-saving.
Ambassador Chapman highlighted the initiative: “We are very pleased to see the first shipment of the 1000 ventilators promised by President Trump arriving in Brazil. We are working with the Ministry of Health to quickly incorporate the ventilators into Brazil’s health system and assisting those Brazilians who need it most.”
The 200 ventilator units are valued at more than US $2.5 million. In addition, USAID is funding a tailored package of additional support, which includes service and warranty, as well as accessories such as monitoring equipment, tubes, filters. This donation builds on the more than US $12.5 million that the U.S. Government has committed to Brazil in response to the pandemic, and approximately US $40.5 million from U.S. companies in Brazil. Other U.S. Government-funded efforts include emergency activities in health, water, sanitation, and hygiene immediate support to vulnerable communities in the Amazon, including risk-communications and community engagement, the prevention and control of infections in health facilities, water and sanitation, and disease-surveillance and rapid response; support for refugees and host communities as they deal with the pandemic; and incentives to the private sector to address the non-health impacts of the disease on rural and vulnerable urban populations.
For decades, the United States has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in health. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than US $100 billion in health assistance and nearly US $70 billion in humanitarian assistance.
Through an All-of-America approach, the United States is providing life-saving support by coordinating with the Government of Brazil and other stakeholders to identify priority areas for investment. Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19.
Para imagens da entrega dos ventiladores, veja nosso Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmP4kNdN
For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19
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For further information on this Press Release, please contact the U.S. Embassy Press Office in Brasília at BrasiliaEMBEUA@state.gov or at (+55 61) 3312 – 7367 / 7350 / 7364. Follow us on Twitter and Flickr.
