The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in cooperation with the Punjab Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department, Tuesday delivered 46 new ventilators to 13 hospitals in Punjab to support Pakistan’s fight against COVID-19.

This equipment is part of the 200 ventilators contributed to Pakistan by the United States. Deliveries of these ventilators were made through a partnership with the NDMA and Chemonics.

“These compact and easily deployable ventilators will not only contribute to Pakistan’s overall response to the COVID-19 outbreak by increasing the capacity of Punjab Health Department to provide advanced life support for critical patients in the province but also help save precious lives beyond this pandemic,” stated U.S. Consul General Catherine Rodriguez. “We thank the NDMA, the Ministry of Health, and the Punjab Health Department for their dedicated support and leadership.”

In partnership with Pakistani health authorities, physicians, and medical professors, USAID also funded the training of 142 doctors and paramedics to operate the equipment to help patients in need.

The Pakistan-U.S. partnership is helping to improve and expand laboratory testing, disease monitoring, case tracking, infection prevention and control, and patient care across the country.