The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has delivered 200 new ventilators to the government of Nigeria to support the west African country’s efforts in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Development Diaries learnt that the U.S. Ambassador to Africa’s most populous nation, Mary Beth Leonard, handed over the ventilators to Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at a ceremony in Abuja, the country’s capital. 

‘This donation, and the many other health and humanitarian assistance programmes offered by the American people over the years, is just one component of the strong cooperation between our two governments’, Leonard said at the ceremony.

Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian government, Dr Ehanire, who thanked the U.S. government for providing the medical aid, said that the ventilators will greatly enhance Nigeria’s efforts in tackling the contagion.

‘These ventilators will certainly be of great benefit to the people of Nigeria’, the medical doctor said.

It is understood that the ventilators can be used for both pediatric and adult care.

At the time of the donation, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had reported 950 Covid-19-related deaths in the West African country.

Source: USAID

Photo source: USAID