WHO and the EU shipped one of the largest recent stocks of medical respirators, medical masks, goggles and gowns–worth €1.1 million–to the Republic of Moldova to support the country’s health-care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.
The 1.5 million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) were funded by the European Union (EU) and procured by WHO.
The shipment included 1.2 million medical masks, 348,000 N95 respirators, 16,200 goggles and 36,000 protective gowns.
Following the first consignment of supplies second shipment will comprise 330 000 pairs of gloves, 356 oxygen concentrators, 41 patient monitors, 40 ventilators, 215 pulse oximeters, 1500 kits for laboratory tests and 12 000 testing kits, taking the total value of the shipments to €2.8 million.
The shipment is intended to substantially reduce the risk Moldovan health care workers face as well as to help protect their patients and other vulnerable people from the virus.
The donation of PPE and medical and laboratory devices is part of the EU’s response to the outbreak of COVID-19. In March 2020, the EU announced an assistance package of €30 million to help prevent, detect and respond to the pandemic in six countries in eastern Europe and the Caucasus, including the Republic of Moldova.