The European Union is stepping up its preparations to assist India in its fight against Covid-19, with the imminent dispatch of medical equipment and medicines that six Member States have made available through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, the European Commission announced on Tuesday 27 April.
The Indian authorities had submitted a request for assistance to this solidarity mechanism (see EUROPE 12706/12).
The offers of assistance, coordinated by the Emergency Response Coordination Centre hosted by the Commission, are as follows: - Ireland: 700 oxygen concentrators, 1 oxygen generator, 365 ventilators; - Belgium: 9,000 doses of the antiviral medicine Remdésivir (not recommended by WHO for the treatment of Covid-19); - Romania: 80 oxygen concentrators and 75 oxygen cylinders; - Luxembourg: 58 ventilators; - Portugal: 5,503 vials of Remdésivir, 20,000 litres of oxygen per week; - Sweden: 120 ventilators.
“The EU stands in full solidarity with the Indian people and is ready to do our utmost to support them at this critical time”, assured EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, thanking member states “for their generous offers of help”.
The EU will co-finance the transport costs. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism can be called upon by any country in the world facing a major disaster. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)