Responding to a request from the Government of Thailand, the World Health Organization and the United States rushed the delivery of medical supplies including gloves, surgical gowns, goggles and face shields for use by Thailand health professionals in responding to the growing threat of the Covid19 coronavirus outbreak. The needed equipment was drawn from global stockpiles maintained by the World Health Organization, the lead United Nations agency for fighting infectious diseases.
“We welcome Thailand’s use of medical supplies that are part of WHO’s global stockpile as it works to stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease in Thailand,” said Dr. Daniel Kertesz, WHO Representative in Thailand. “These supplies are essential in protecting our health care workers against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Keeping health care workers healthy is one of the top priorities in the fight against COVID-19.”
The supplies of personal protective equipment used by health workers were requested by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health and are part of a global stockpile of medicines and medical supplies that WHO oversees. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) supports the allocation of WHO stockpile resources maintained in the United States.
In February 2020, WHO launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan to fight further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) COVID-19 outbreak, and to protect and assist national public health systems. The Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for the COVID-19 disease lays out activities and resources needed by international health organizations globally, including WHO, to implement priority public health measures in support of countries to prepare and respond to COVID-19 through April 2020.