The United States has given a sum of nearly $42 million to Nigeria in a bid to aid its fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
The fund was broken down to include more than $3.3 million for health assistance and $34 million in humanitarian funding for risk-communications, water and sanitation, infection-prevention, coordination, and emergency food assistance; and more than $4.7 million in MRA humanitarian assistance for vulnerable people.
This was contained in a factsheet released by the American government. It added that on August 11, USAID handed over a donation of 200 ventilators to the Federal Government. This assistance joins more than $8.1 billion in total assistance for Nigeria over the past 20 years, including more than $5.2 billion for health.
The factsheet reads: “U.S. Government (USG) has allocated $20.5 billion for the development of vaccines and therapeutics, preparedness efforts, and other foreign assistance. Our global efforts build upon decades of U.S. investment in life-saving health and humanitarian assistance, and we continue to ensure that the substantial U.S. funding and scientific efforts remain a central and coordinated part of the worldwide effort against this deadly virus. We are achieving real results, helping nations around the world respond to COVID-19 and therein protecting the United States.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the USG has also announced more than $1.6 billion in State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fight the pandemic. This funding, provided by U.S. taxpayers, will save lives by improving public health education; protecting healthcare facilities; and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries.
“The United States has mobilised as a nation to make this an impressive global effort. Working with the private sector, we are actively fulfilling President Trump’s commitment to provide ventilators to our partners and allies worldwide. Our foreign assistance funding to date for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic includes more than $250 million specifically for ventilators and related support.
