NEWS DESK

The United Nations in Bangladesh has provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other emergency medical and humanitarian aid supplies to the Government of Bangladesh and the humanitarian operation in Cox’s Bazar to support the country’s COVID-19 response.

These critical supplies have managed to land despite broken supply chains globally, a United Nations’ media release said on Thursday.

The latest cargo to arrive means the UN has brought in more than 1.5 million gloves, 900,000 masks, goggles, and face shields, 300 thermometers, materials for building isolation and medical centres as well as the necessary medical supplies, and thousands of other protective items such as caps, gowns, boots, and shoe coverings imported by IOM, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, and WHO.

The items have been handed over to the Government of Bangladesh or deployed to the humanitarian operation supporting the government’s response to the Rohingya crisis in Cox’s Bazar.

Since the early stages of the pandemic, UN agencies have been supporting the country’s preparedness and response activities through scaling up testing and treatment capacities, training health workers, working side by side with the government to reduce disease burden and loss of lives.