Government of Canada contributes $5.3 million to PAHO for response to COVID-19

The Government of Canada has agreed to contribute 7.5 M Canadian dollars (about USD$5.3 million) to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the response to COVID-19 in 23 countries of the Americas.

The contribution will benefit a total of fifteen Caribbean countries – Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, 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.

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.

PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne said, “We are grateful to the Government of Canada for its contribution to the Pan American response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. 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.”

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 channeled through the World Health Organization (WHO) and US$29.5 million directly to PAHO.

Original source: PAHO
Published on 11 June 2020