Syria receives Russian medical aid shipment to help fight coronavirus

DAMASCUS, (ST)- The Syrian Ministry of Health has received a shipment of medical aid from Russia that includes equipment to help detect coronavirus infections and treat infected people, in addition to some tools that provide protection to the medical cadre tasked with confronting COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The Russian aid stresses the strong and distinguished relations between the two countries.

The aid batch, which aims at enhancing the ability of the Syrian health sector to face the virus, contains 50 ventilators, 10,000 test devices to detect coronavirus, 1000 multi-use protective suits and 1,000 single-use protective suits.

Another batch of aid is scheduled to arrive on April 20 and it will include 150 ventilators.

 In a statement to reporters during the aid delivery process, Russia’s Ambassador in Damascus Aleksandr Yefimov said that the aid comes to support Syria’s medical system and back the country’s measures to treat coronavirus patients, particularly after nine years of war.

He stressed the need to increase the number of strategic medical equipments, including the ventilators and test devices to detect infections.

Yefimov added that the illegal coercive measures imposed by Western countries on Syria significantly affect the country’s capabilities to confront the epidemic, pointing out that despite increasing calls on western countries to lift the unfair sanctions, these countries haven’t respond.

 “Russia reaffirms that these countries are against the Syrian people and do not want to help them,” he stressed.

On his part, Syria’s Deputy Health Minister Ahmad Khlefawi said that the Russian medical aid will support the capabilities of the Syrian Health sector, which has been exposed to a heinous terrorist war, and will help it confront coronavirus and continue providing health services to citizens.

The deputy minister indicated that the precautionary measures adopted by the Syrian government have so far helped contain the virus and prevent its spread.   

Hamda Mustafa