Asia and the Pacific

Situation Report
Myanmar — Media
United Nations Launches European Union/Switzerland-Funded Humanitarian Flights
©UNICEF Myanmar 2020 Nyan Zay Htet

United Nations Launches European Union/Switzerland-Funded Humanitarian Flights, with First Rotation Delivering 10,000 UNICEF COVID-19 Kits

As international commercial flights remain temporarily suspended as part of the measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19, the World Food Programme (WFP), on behalf of the United Nations in Myanmar, is launching a series of humanitarian flights linking Yangon and Kuala Lumpur to bring in humanitarian cargo and personnel.

The first humanitarian flight saw the arrival of 10,000 COVID-19 test kits, the first batch of 20,000 kits, reagents and viral transport medium that United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has procured as part of its ongoing support to the efforts of Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS) to scale up testing capacity and fight against the pandemic.

Generous financial support from the European Union and Switzerland has made it possible for WFP to establish the first stage of the humanitarian flight service linking Yangon with Kuala Lumpur on a weekly basis. Each flight can bring to Myanmar up to two metric tons of humanitarian cargo, in addition to personnel of the UN and international humanitarian and development partners.

“WFP is proud to do its part to support key logistical aspects of the international community’s response to COVID-19 in Myanmar,” said WFP Myanmar’s Country Director, Mr. Stephen Anderson. “These flights will speed up import of vital medical supplies and equipment in support of the government’s efforts to combat this pandemic. They also help the movement of relief workers,” said Mr. Anderson.

The first batch of test kits are handed over to MoHS to boost the testing capacity of the National Health Laboratory and help meet the increasing testing needs. The second batch is expected to arrive before June 2020.

(Full Press Release)

URL:

Downloaded: