JAKARTA - The US government through the United States Agency for International Development will donate US$2.3 million in emergency assistance to Indonesia to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The aid is sourced from USAID’s Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious Diseases, which is provided by the US government to multilateral institutions and programmes led by USAID implementing partners in individual countries.
“For over 50 years, we have partnered with the Government of Indonesia through USAID and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on pressing health issues, including infectious diseases,” said US Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava in an official statement on the US Embassy’s website, Thursday (9/4).
“As the Government of Indonesia joins the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committing additional emergency funding to support their disease prevention, detection, and response efforts.”
The aid, said Ms Variava, will be used immediately to increase lab capacity, accelerate testing, and improve disease tracking. In addition, it will also boost risk communications in order to provide reliable and verifiable information to the public.
“Indonesia is ready to work together with other countries in doing collaboration to prevent the spreading of COVID-19, including the US Government to support us in managing COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Ministry of Health’s Director of International Cooperation Affairs Acep Somantri. (MS)