Coronavirus: Nigeria To Receive Medical Equipment From UN

To help Nigeria in its fight against coronavirus, the United Nations has supplied the country with medical equipment worth 80,000 euros (N32.5m).

The equipment include, laboratory useables and reagents, diagnostic kits and machines, biosafety apparatuses like laboratory cabinets and other tools.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in Abuja on Friday during a briefing of the  Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19.

The minister said that donation was made possible by Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the UN, Prof Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

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He said, “Our Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna has been able to secure from International Atomic Energy Agency a donation of €80,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies to assist the COVID-19 response.”

The Director General of IAEA, Rafeal Mariano Grossi, stated that the first delieveries of the equipment will be made to Nigeria and 40 other countries.

Rafael said that the supplies worth 4 million euros will aid the use of the technique known as real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction by the beneficiaries.

Rafael stated, “IAEA staff are working hard to ensure that this critical equipment is delivered as quickly as possible.

“This emergency assistance is part of the IAEA’s response to requests for support from around 90 Member States in controlling an increasing number of infections worldwide.”