The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has handed over 380 oxygen concentrators to Ethiopia’s health ministry to support the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Development Diaries gathered that the oxygen concentrators and their accessories were procured with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).

Some of the oxygen concentrators, it was learnt, will be allocated to the recently inaugurated field hospital in Addis Ababa under St. Peter’s Hospital.

The country’s Minister of Health, Dr Lia Tadesse, who received the devices, said, ‘I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the US and the UK governments for their continued commitment to supporting Ethiopia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘We are delighted that these concentrators have come at a time when Ethiopia needs them most. With the increasing number of Covid patients in the country, these concentrators as well as previously donated ventilators will help save lives of many that would have otherwise been lost due to Covid-19’.

The UNICEF Deputy Representative in Ethiopia, Michele Servadei, said, ‘Oxygen concentrators are essential in treating patients with a moderate to severe form of Covid-19’

‘They have come at a time when we are seeing a spike in the number of Covid-19 patients requiring oxygen support.

‘We have no doubt that the oxygen concentrators will save precious lives, and for this, we are immensely grateful to USAID and the FCDO for their generosity’.

Source: Ethiopian Press Agency

Photo source: Ethiopian Press Agency