PART of its commitment to support the Philippines’s efforts to protect health-care workers and first responders as they deliver public-health services to the most vulnerable in the midst of the pandemic, the government of Canada recently sent 837,000 nonmedical respirator face masks to the Department of Health (DOH).
“Canada is collaborating closely with the government of the Philippines and regional partners in the fight against Covid-19,” Ambassador Peter MacArthur said, as he formally turned over the donation’s first tranche, which consisted of 422,000 face masks, to DOH officials in Manila. “Our collaboration includes close engagement with the [Asean and its member-states] to support a coordinated and multilateral effort aimed at limiting and ending the pandemic,” MacArthur added.
The masks, valued at CAD$3.41 million (approximately P136 million), were provided through a collaboration among the government of Canada, the Asean secretariat and Asean member-states, which aims to mitigate biological threats, including those resulting from the pandemic.
Since 2013 the partnership has been working on strengthening biological security, biological safety and disease-surveillance capabilities in the region.
“Building on this long-standing partnership, Canada has provided additional aid to Asean partners to combat the…pandemic. This includes…9.5 million units of personal protective equipment with non-medical masks to the Asean Secretariat and seven member states, including the 837,000 [pieces] for the Philippines,” MacArthur explained.
In September 2020 the North American country also turned over 120,000 N95 masks to the DOH as part of its bilateral assistance pledged to the Philippines.
Image credits: Embassy of Canada