United States hands over second shipment of 100 ventilators to India

The United States has handed over the second shipment of 100 new and state-of-the-art ventilators to India on August 19, 2020, in its fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

US Ambassador, Kenneth I Juster announced the delivery of the final tranche of 100 ventilators to India and mentioned fulfilling President Donald Trump’s commitment to provide the critically needed supplies to India’s battle against the pandemic.

As per the official statement by the US Embassy in India, the US government donated the final tranche of ventilators to India through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in coordination with the government of India and the Indian Red Cross Society.

Fulfilling the U.S. Government’s commitment, @usaid_india delivered the remaining 100 brand-new, Made-in-USA ventilators to @IndianRedCross on behalf of the @MoHFW_INDIA. #AmericaActs pic.twitter.com/RZOnPekAlw

— Ken Juster (@USAmbIndia) August 19, 2020

Key Highlights:

•  The ventilators donated have been manufactured in the United States and are compact, easy to deploy, and will provide India with the flexibility in treating virus affected patients.

•  In addition to the ventilators, USAID has also been funding a package of support that includes warranties and the additional supplies that will be required to operate these machines such as filters, tubes, and other necessary components.

•  USAID has also been working in close coordination with the Indian government to enhance the capacity of health facilities using the ventilators by facilitating set up, clinical training, and orientations for the healthcare providers who are responsible for operating the machines.

•  As of August 7, 2020, a total of three million people in India have been directly benefitted from the USAID support.

USAID contribution to India against pandemic:

USAID efforts have strengthened India’s healthcare system’s readiness, resilience, and response capacities in several high burden states.

It has also trained 40,700 health workers on the best practices to integrate the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and risk mitigation into essential health services, 46,000 front line workers on risk communication and has also provided 950 health care facilities with the support to increase infection prevention control, social distancing and patient management

US-India collaboration in the health sector: Background

The first shipment of 100 ventilators from the US arrived in India on June 14, 2020. Since then, the ventilators have been deployed for the care of COVID-19 patients at the eight regional All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

As per the statement by US Embassy in India, the total donation of 200 ventilators has been built on the long history of US-India collaboration in the health sector and the assistance that the USAID has been committed to India in response to the pandemic.