Taiwan donates ventilators to help fight Covid-19

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment this week received a timely donation from the Republic of China (Taiwan), as the health services in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), continue to battle a surge in COVID-19 infections.

Ten new ventilators were handed over to officials of the Ministry of Health during a brief ceremony at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital(MCMH), on Tuesday November 2, a release from the Agency for Public Information states.

Taiwan’s Ambassador Peter Sha Li Lan, said at the hand over ceremony: “When we learned about the great need, in response to the resurgence of the COVID-19 cases, we took a swift decision to donate 10 best quality ventilators and we managed to ship them here at the end of October. Hopefully they will greatly help the patients that are in need.”

In the recent past, Taiwan also has donated among other things; surgical masks, personal protective equipment, and oxygen concentrators to assist the ministry in its management of the COVID-19 problem.

Ambassador Lan added further that, “Public health is one of the sectors that we should continue to work on in terms of our bilateral relationship with St. Vincent and the Grenadines especially keeping in mind that this year is the 40th Anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.”

The machines cost of just over US$330,000 and are expected to be put into immediate use at at the MCMH, the Argyle Isolation Centre, and other health facilities as needed, health minister St. Clair Prince, said.

The minister expressed his appreciation for the donation and noted that “Taiwan has always been in partnership with us in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, and this intervention has intensified during our special period where we underwent problems with the volcanic eruption and, of course, COVID-19. These 10 ventilators are the latest in the intervention in coping with the surge that we’ve had over the past few weeks.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Republic of China (Taiwan) formally entered into diplomatic relations on August 15, 1981.