Brasília, January 28, 2021: In response to the health crisis in Manaus, the US government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Grupo + Unidos, the Partners for the Amazon Platform (PPA) and the UNA + formed the Juntos Pelo Amazonas initiative to acquire hospital supplies and to support actions to confront and combat Covid-19 in the state of Amazonas. Presently, through a partnership with Mercado Pago, the initiative has collected more than R $ 300,000 in direct donations. In addition to providing protective equipment to healthcare workers in the state, the initiative donated R $ 1.6 million to Fiocruz’s Unidos Contra a Covid-19 program. The funds will be used in the construction of oxygen production plants to support public hospitals in the region. Up to this point, the foundation and the private sector have donated five plants. For more information about the initiative, visit: https://ppa.org.br/ajuda-para-manaus/
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US government has been committed to helping our Brazilian friends. In response to the oxygen scarcity in the state, the U.S. Embassy has taken a strategic approach to help develop short and long-term solutions for local oxygen production. We are working with Brazilian and North American partners to offer various types of support to medical facilities and residents of Amazonas. During the course of deliberations among the government of the USA, national government of Brazil and the state of Amazonas on the possibilities of air support, the Brazilian government found accelerated means to address the immediate needs of the state and will continue its efforts to explore other options for the transport of oxygen. The United States continues to dialogue regularly with the federal government about the situation in Manaus.
The US Office of Global Naval Research (ONR) has made available a research grant of around R$ 1 million to produce low-cost hospital ventilators, 40 of which have already been sent to Manaus. As part of US $ 13.8 million in US support for combating Covid-19, the US government has also donated 1,000 ventilators – essential equipment for providing oxygen to hospitalized patients – to the Brazilian government for distribution to health care facilities. We continue to have regular discussions with the Ministry of Health about their strategic implementation. Humanitarian assistance provided during the pandemic includes support for emergency activities in health, water, sanitation and hygiene; US $ 2 million in health funds for immediate support to vulnerable communities in Amazonas, prevention and control of infections in health, water and sanitation facilities and surveillance and rapid response to diseases and incentives for private sector investments to mitigate the non-health impacts of the disease.
The US government and private sector are strongly committed to helping the Brazilian people fight Covid-19 in Brazil, and together have already made available around US$ 75 million (R$ 414 million) for a series of initiatives, including donations of health equipment, food, hygiene products and individual protection equipment, as well as projects to support entrepreneurs, artificial intelligence and combating disinformation. Detailed information on U.S. private sector initiatives can be found here: https://br.usembassy.gov/u-s-companies-that-are-contributing-to-response-against-covid-19-in-brazil/
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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 on (+55 61) 3312 – 7367 / 7350 / 7364. Follow us on Twitter and Flickr.
