The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says 81 per cent of countries in Africa have received medical supplies to support health workers.
The first UN Solidarity Flight which is part of a larger effort to ship lifesaving medical supplies to 95 countries departed Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to various countries on April 14.
The UN health agency gave an update on Tuesday on its official twitter account @WHOAFRO.
“The UN ‘Solidarity Flight’ touching down in Brazzaville, Congo this weekend with the support of World Food Programme (WFP), Jack Ma Foundation, Africa Centre for Disease Control, African Union and Federal Ministry of Health.
“Eighty one per cent of countries in Africa have received life-saving COVID-19 medical equipment.’’
The cargo was donated by WHO and the Jack Ma Foundation with logistics and transportation supported by WFP.
The cargo is transporting face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks, medical aprons and thermometers, as well as ventilators to various countries.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of World Health Organisation (WHO) says over the past week, WHO had delivered masks, goggles, test kits, face shields and other medical equipment to 40 countries.
In a statement posted on WHO website, Ghebreyesus said that the Organisation had been working closely with the WFP to deliver the medical supplies.
“This is part of the overarching drive to keep supply chains moving and ensure key supplies reach 120 priority countries.
“Through April and May, we intend to ship almost 180 million surgical masks, 54 million N95 masks and more than three million protective goggles to countries that need them most.
“I also want to highlight the Jack Ma Foundation’s donation of 100 million masks, 1 million N95 masks and one million test kits to WHO.
“We had a very productive discussion with Jack Ma yesterday and he would like to continue to support countries in need,’’ he said,
According to him, solidarity flights continue to ship lifesaving medical supplies across Africa to protect health workers, who are on the frontlines in the effort to save lives and slow the pandemic.
 Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, says 81 per cent of countries in Africa have received medical supplies){kind=link}