As of today, the Global Fund through its Principal Recipient Programme of the Asia Regional Health Cluster (ARHC), UNOPS has successfully delivered USD 1.4 million worth of medical equipment and supplies for COVID-19 response to the Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHs) in Myanmar.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), and other products such as aprons, automatic dispenser for hand gel, body bags, chlorine, face shield, goggles, hand sanitizers, N95 masks, infrared thermometers, reusable gowns, scrub tops and pants and surgical masks have been handed over to the MoHS and its Sub-Recipients to date. The support will ensure the safe delivery of care and protect frontline health workers in the health facilities and communities across the States and Regions.
This consignment is part of the USD 7.1 million that the Global Fund has approved to support Myanmar’s national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with the MoHS and other technical experts, ARHC developed and submitted a plan of response including a list of required equipment and supplies to the Global Fund which was subsequently approved.
Responding to a question in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw on 22nd May, the Union Minister for Health and Sports H.E. Dr. Myint Htwe acknowledged the Global Fund’s prompt approval of their proposal requesting procurement support for COVID-19 required items.
He stated, “We have submitted our proposal on 26th March and the Global Fund has approved it subsequently overnight. I think this is because the Global Fund appreciated our performance on HIV, TB and Malaria activities in the country. As of now, we have received more than 1 million worth of supplies and more to come.”
Upon receiving the approval from the Global Fund, the first consignment has arrived and distributed to the Ministry of Health and Sports starting from 15th May. The support will also cover laboratory and medical equipment such as High-speed Centrifuge, Bio-safety Cabinets, N95 respirators, examination gloves, surgical gloves, protective goggles, aprons. It will also include the equipment for supportive treatment, such as ventilators, as well as diagnosis and supplies for rapid diagnostics tests, such as additional four GeneXpert machines and 69,200 cartridges.
ARHC’s Procurement Specialist Mr. Vikram Singh said, “The procurement for the Covid-19 response has been quite challenging. We are facing struggles with lockdowns and trade restrictions, difficulties in verification of product quality and time taken in sample verifications, increased costs and long delivery timeline due to huge global demand. Our team is putting all their efforts and working long hours to get the orders issued in time and delivery as soon as possible.”
In the wake of COVID-19, the Global Fund acknowledged the direct threat of the pandemic on people affected or living with HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and provided flexibility for countries to reprogramme savings from existing grants and to redeploy underutilized resources.
The Global Fund is also supporting necessary medical equipment and supplies amounting to US$3.2 million for five Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries such as Cambodia, Laos PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
