Coronavirus: ADB gives Bangladesh medical equipment

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday handed over medical equipment to the government of Bangladesh to help strengthen its efforts to improve treatment facilities of Covid-19 patients and contain further spread of the virus in the country.

The equipment includes 14 ventilators, 24 respirators (oxygen concentrator), 57 pulse oximetres and 12 laryngoscope sets for adults and children.

Gobinda Bar, Team Leader of External Affairs, and S M Ebadur Rahman, Senior Social Sector Officer of ADB's Dhaka office, handed over the equipment to Ashadul Islam, Secretary, Health Services Division, at the Office of the Director General of Health Services in the city. 

The equipment were procured after ADB had approved an emergency grant of $350,000 on March 27 to support the Bangladesh government's fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  

The grant assistance was sourced from the Asian Development Bank Regional Technical Assistance entitled "Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases".

ADB is known to have been working on other emergency assistance in health and finance sectors to help the government deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impacts.

It has a strong track record of responding rapidly to provide targeted support to Bangladesh in times of emergencies including natural disasters like floods and cyclones and other disasters like influx of people in Cox's Bazar camps from across Myanmar border.