The Government of France has donated to Uganda sh10.8 billion covid fight items such as one million FFP2 face masks, fifty four thousand six hundred antigen testing kits and nine Osiris3 respirators.
They were handed over to Uganda this afternoon at a ceremony held at the National Medical Stores (NMS) offices in Entebbe in the presence of the Right Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, Jane-Ruth Aceng, Minister of Health, and Jules-Armand Aniambossou, Ambassador of France to Uganda.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja applauded the Government and people of France for “this generous donation of items that will help in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“This contribution is further testimony of the long standing solidarity between the French people and the people of Uganda,” she declared, adding that France has ably demonstrated her friendship with Uganda in many ways and consistently over the years.
The Prime Minister called for more international solidarity, especially in accessing Covid 19 vaccines, saying that the fight against the pandemic is one that can only be won when the international community acts collectively and in solidarity.
The Ambassador of France said that the donation was a gesture of solidarity towards a friendly country in the fight against a common enemy. He reaffirmed the commitment of his government to continue standing in solidarity with Uganda in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We appreciate Uganda’s exemplary efforts in the fight against the pandemic. France will always stand in solidarity with Uganda in this common struggle,” he observed.
He further recalled the previous support that France has extended to Uganda since the outbreak, including over 50,000 litres of alcohol-based hand sanitizers to the Ugandan army, 15,000 euros from the French Embassy to support the development of simple, rapid, low-cost Covid-19 diagnostic tests by Makerere University school of public health, and the recent 175,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines that came through the Covax facility.
While recognizing Uganda’s exemplary fight against the coronavirus, the Ambassador expressed the hope that the new donation would contribute to the government’s interventions against the new wave.