The United States Department of Defence has donated COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs, to the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Receiving the items, according to a statement on Monday in Abuja, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence, Babangida Hussaini, said the relationship between the two countries has remained beneficial to the Nigerian military on health and allied matters.
According to him, the relationship has translated towards prevention, care and treatment of HIV, Ebola, Lassa fever and recently the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Hussaini, who received the items on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, noted that the collaboration has grown to include researches and several interventions that provides source of livelihoods for health care workers and medical professionals.
The permanent secretary pointed out that, “the Defence Referral Laboratory which was recently re-accredited with state-of–the-art diagnostic equipment was established with the support of the US government and these has greatly enhanced the capacity of our personnel leading to ground breaking research studies.”
Mr Hussaini explained that outcomes of the researches have been utilized to upscale the prevention and management of infectious diseases especially at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that this donation would further enhance the ability of our front line medical staff in the fight to curtail the COVID-19 and to ensure that staff go about their duties with minimal risk of being exposed to harmful infectious agents,” he added.
The permanent-secretary, therefore, assured the donors that the items would be appropriately deployed to relevant military facilities without delay or hindrance.
In her remarks while presenting the equipment, the United States Charge de Affair in Nigeria, Kathleen Fitzgibbon, assured that the US would continue to support the government and people of Nigeria for a better world.
Also speaking, the Director General, Defence Health Implementation Programme, Nathan Anelechi-Okeji, commended the visionary leadership of the Minister of Defence and the US Ambassador to Nigeria for actualizing their understanding.
