The United States, through their embassy in Kigali on Wednesday, August 12, donated Rwf131 million worth of medical supplies with an aim of supporting Rwanda’s effort to fight Covid-19. Handed over by the US Ambassador Peter Vrooman, the consignment includes surgical masks, sterile and disposable gloves, protective boots, and top-of-the-line “N95” airborne-particle filtering respirators. The medical supplies, according to a statement from the embassy, will be rapidly delivered to health workers in 349 public healthcare facilities across the country; including 25 district, provincial, and referral hospitals. This, the statement adds, will protect frontline workers including doctors, nurses, other medical workers, and their patients from the coronavirus pandemic. “The protective medical supplies, known collectively as Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, are critical for Rwanda’s frontline healthcare workers to stop the spread of Covid-19. The gloves, boots, masks, and respirators allow healthcare workers to protect themselves and to protect patients. This includes patients who need routine or emergency medical care during the global Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement reads in part. The consignment is part of more than Rwf11 billion that the United States has contributed to the Covid-19 response in the country. “This support includes the construction of hand washing stations in districts across Rwanda, support for public communications to fight Covid-19, and other medical supplies such as ventilators, biohazard bags, alcohol, hand washing soap, and hospital beds,” according to the statement. The United States is Rwanda’s partner in public health, with funds worth more than $1.5 billion invested in public health in Rwanda in the past 20 years, according to the embassy.
