India: EU mobilises an initial €2.2 million in emergency funding for the vulnerable during COVID-19

On May 5, the Commission has announced that it will allocate an initial €2.2 million in emergency funding to respond to the drastic surge in COVID-19 cases in India. The funding will support the World Health Organization (WHO) for 6-month case management of COVID-19 patients, as well as strengthening laboratory capacity for COVID-19 testing.

“We are providing additional EU support towards the fight against COVID-19 in India. This comes on top of the generous and swift assistance from the EU Member States that stepped up as part of Team Europe to offer critical supplies of oxygen, ventilators, and medicines over the last few days. We stand ready to work with the WHO and other partners on the ground to jointly fight this battle at this difficult time – we are stronger together,” said the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič.

The Member States have already mobilized supplies of urgently needed oxygen, ventilators, and medicines from Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden to India over the last week via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.