Times Of Swaziland: TAIWAN DONATES SANITISERS, PPE WORTH E535 000

TAIWAN DONATES SANITISERS, PPE WORTH E535 000
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BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA on 22/02/2021 21:53:00


MBABANE – The Republic of China (Taiwan) has continued to show the country its
generous side, especially in the fight against COVID-19.
This time around, Taiwan donated sanitisers and personal protective equipment
(PPE) worth E535 000. The donation to government was made yesterday at the
Taiwan Embassy in Mbabane, in the presence of the Minister of Health, Lizzie
Nkosi, and her Principal Secretary, Dr Simon Zwane.
According to Taiwan Ambassador to Eswatini Jeremy Liang, as an ally with
Eswatini, Taiwan has been committed to providing medical assistance in many
ways, hand-in-hand to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“According to the request from the Ministry of Health last year, we fully
understand there is urgency to strengthen the protection of the community health
workers to face the COVID-19. We immediately allocated the resources from the
Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project (Phase II) to prepare the
sanitisers and we hope it would help to reduce the risks of COVID-19 infections
among the community health workers and their clients, especially mothers and
children,” said Liang.
alcohol
The ambassador revealed that they were donating 10 000 bottles (200ml per
bottle) of alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
“The sanitisers have been prepared to support 4 700 rural health motivators
(bagcugcuteli) and 300 community mentor mothers in the country, which are valued
at USD17 000 (about E245 000),” said Liang.
“Moreover, we recognise that not only community health workers need PPE, but
also, the health personnel on the frontline need more resources for this
difficult battle,” said the ambassador.
He further went on to reveal that they donated 2 000 pieces of protective
clothing for strengthening the protection of health personnel, which are valued
at USD20 000 (about E290 000).
Liang said the worldwide spread of COVID-19 has, once again, shown that the
disease knows no borders and that no gaps should exist in the global epidemic
prevention network.
“Working on the frontline against COVID-19, Taiwan has been widely recognised
by the international community for its advanced preparations and actions.
Therefore, as long as the global pandemic does not slow down, Taiwan will
continue to contribute to the kingdom and the world to face the threat coming
from COVID-19.
believe
“Taiwan can help and Taiwan is helping. We firmly believe Taiwan could well
play her role as a force for good in the world,” said the ambassador.
The minister of Health said since the beginning of the pandemic, Taiwan had held
their hand and assisted them in every step.
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, the Government of Eswatini and its
development partners have supported our community health volunteers towards
increasing their capacity to respond rapidly and efficiently to COVID-19 basic
preventative measures.
capacity
“Today’s donation aligns with the Ministry’s mission of investing in the
capacity of our community health volunteers and ensuring that their environment
enables them to serve in the best way they can,” said Nkosi.
She further said the ministry expressed their profound gratitude for their
(Taiwan) support towards the provision of the necessary resources during the
COVID-19 fight.