COVID-19: Saudi donates $1m worth of medical equipment to Nigeria

Last updated Jun 23, 2021

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia donated one million dollars worth of medical equipment to the Nigerian government on Tuesday.

The Saudi Ambassador to Nigeria, Faisal Ebraheem said during a ceremony organised to hand the pieces of the equipment over to the federal government, the donation was to affirm the Kingdom’s commitment to enhancing the relations between both countries.

The gesture would go a long way toward strengthening the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is in order to combat the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the medical equipment includes 23 ventilators, which are a key component in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Other items include 25, 000 surgical sterile gowns, 125, 000 non-sterile surgical gowns, 188, 000, KN95 face masks, 1, 606, 700 surgical masks, and 9,500 nitrile gloves,” Ebraheem said.

According to him, this is not the first time the Kingdom has contributed to the health sector in Nigeria.

The Kingdom planned to organise a 12-month voluntary medical campaign.

11 of these campaigns are for combating blindness and its causes in the country, while the other campaign will involve catheterisation and heart surgery.

This phase of the medical campaign is planned for Kano and Bauchi states, and the target number is 50,000 with 4,000 of them related to cataract and glaucoma operations.

“Also, we will see the distribution of 10, 000 medical glasses, and dispensing of necessary medicines.

“It also targets 70, 000 catheterisation and heart surgeries,” Ebraheem added.

The subsequent phase will look into specialised surgeries. The South-South and South-East geo-political zones will be in view in terms of this phases.

Ebraheem said, the Kingdom was pleased with the depth of the relations between both countries.

He also commended officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health for their cooperation.

Kamila/Punch