The WHO and Jack Ma Foundation have donated COVID-19 essential medical supplies to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
The supplies, which landed in Barbados, were then scheduled for delivery to the 20 CARICOM countries through a new integrated Regional Logistics Hub for the COVID-19 response based in Barbados, supported by the reallocation of CAN$401,359 from a donation from the Government of Canada to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said the masks would greatly assist the governments in protecting their frontline workers.
She also thanked the WHO for being responsive and working on behalf of smaller states.
“What is important is that we not only have access, which we didn’t as a small region as CARICOM on our own, but that we are also looking to be able to procure at prices that are usually only available for much larger countries and populations. Therefore, St. Kitts with 40,000 people will have the same access as Nigeria, with two hundred million people, and that is the fundamental policy space that we have negotiated to make a difference to the people of the region,” she said.
This is in line with the goals of the UN COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force, coordinated by WHO and the World Food Programme (WFP) and launched in early April, to make supplies available to everyone, wherever they are needed. By consolidating the capabilities and expertise of each partner into a mega-consortium, identifying procurement needs and better negotiation with suppliers, WHO makes essential supplies accessible by using its leverage to secure large quantities.
Prime Minister Mottley pointed out that the consistent support received from WHO and PAHO had made a significant difference to the ability of small states like those in the CARICOM region to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. “I make this point because everything else in the conduct of commerce, in the strategic allocation of resources has been against small states and it has appeared as though the mighty and the strongest shall be only those who will survive. Were it not for these agencies, that would be our fate,” Prime Minister Mottley says.