Unicef donates ventilators, oxygen concentrators to dept

THE United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) presented to the Health Department eight ventilators and 20 oxygen concentrators that were obtained by Unicef through funding support from the governments of New Zealand and Japan.
The lifesaving equipment was part of ongoing support for PNG’s Covid-19 response and would be used in the intensive care units (ICU) as prioritised by the Health Department.
Covid-19 National Control Centre incident manager Dr Daoni Esserom said the equipment was very expensive for the Government to purchase.
He said the donated equipment would boost the capacity of the Health Department in its fight against the virus.
“When we started talking about ventilators for potential Covid-19 victims, we knew that we were going to have challenging times ahead, depending on our numbers (of cases),” Dr Esserom said.
“Today’s (yesterday) donation will be added to the supply that we already have in (PNG) but it will boost the country’s health capacity to care for critically-ill patients,” he said.
Unicef’s acting representative, Judith Bruno reaffirmed Unicef’s commitment in supporting the country’s Covid-19 response.
She said valuable equipment like those donated would help build a sustainable approach for treating serious respiratory illnesses.
She said the equipment would also help prevent future health pandemics.
“These are important investment that will first and foremost save lives and help strengthen the country’s health system to be more resilient to future health pandemics,” she said.