COVID-19: US contribution to Mozambique has already exceeded $7 million

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COVID-19: US contribution to Mozambique has already exceeded $7 million

2:21 CAT | 05 Jun 2020

File photo: Lusa

The US Agency for Development Aid (USAID) has already supported Mozambique’s response to Covid-19 to the extent of more than US$7 million [€6 million], including financing for the training of health workers, an official from the agency said on Thursday.

Kenneth Staley, USAID working group leader for Covid-19, told Lusa yesterday that the US agency has already contributed US$7 million to combat Covid-19 in Mozambique, more than double the US$2.8 million contributions announced in early April.

“This assistance focuses on risk communication, community involvement, and prevention messages in the media,” Staley told a conference hosted by the State Department’s Africa Communications Centre yesterday, adding that the agency was also monitoring the water and sanitation system, as well as infection control in health infrastructure in Mozambique.

“We are also helping to fund the empowerment and training of health workers in case management and to ensure that health infrastructures are prepared for the outbreak,” he said.

Kenneth Staley, who also coordinates the global malaria response, added that USAID continues to safeguard the provision of malaria treatment services in Mozambique and across the continent, always “trying to find new ways to treat malaria effectively and safely”.

Coordinator of the Office for Africa, Christopher Runyan, told the same conference that USAID continued to assist the Mozambican government in responding to the insurgency in Cabo Delgado (north of the country), the target of attacks in recent years.

North American aid combating extremism in Cabo Delgado incorporated “lessons learned” in other parts of the continent, he said, as well as constant coordination with the Mozambican government and other interested parties in providing a national and local response.

“Our contributions to the humanitarian response are there, and we remain vigilant in ensuring that Mozambique remains a stable and important partner for economic development on the continent,” Runyan said.

“As in other cases across the continent, Portuguese-speaking countries are a critical part of efforts to help the African population,” Kenneth Stanley commented.

According to information released by the US administration on April 3, Mozambique would receive US$2.8 million from an initial financial envelope of US$274 million for medical and humanitarian aid in the context of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic across Africa.

Over the past two decades, the amount earmarked for Mozambique amounted to US$3.8 billion in medical aid and to US$6 billion in support of development in the country

By Thursday Mozambique registered 352 cases of infection, 114 recoveries and two deaths.

Source: Lusa