Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, 27 July 2020 (PAHO/WHO)—On Friday 24th July 2020, representatives from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Trinidad and Tobago Country Office, the United Nations, The World Food Programme and the Canadian High Commission joined the Ministry of Health (MoH) to receive their shipment of approximately 12,000 kilograms of equipment for health professionals. The cargo contained Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for health professionals, and comprised face shields, protective goggles, isolation gowns, medical and respiratory masks, which were purchased by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT).
The supplies were procured via the UN Supply Portal and the PAHO Strategic Fund, which facilitates procurement of diagnostics, ventilators, and PPE for the COVID-19 response. This initiative is the result of several weeks of collaborative coordination between PAHO/WHO, the World Food Programme, the Government of Canada and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which has developed an initiative to assist with the short-term establishment and operation of a new integrated Regional Logistics Hub for the COVID-19 response based in Barbados.
The World Food Program (WFP) also played a critical role in managing logistics to ensure the movement of these goods for delivery to the GORTT.
The UN system and the Government of Canada give the assurance that it will continue its efforts in support of the GORTT to mitigate the impact of COVID -19 in Trinidad and Tobago.
