Essential medical equipment for COVID-19 will be distributed to 11 Pacific Islands from the government of the United Kingdom and World Health Organization.

The British High Commission in Nuku'alofa stated that this included transport ventilators, portable oxygen concentrators, patient monitoring systems and portable x-ray machines.

Equipment will be sent to Tonga as well as Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 

“The UK and WHO are working together to ensure that countries have the medical equipment they need to diagnose and treat potential COVID-19 patients.”

WHO has also developed and provided user-friendly guides and trained medical professionals to use the equipment correctly.

“Thanks to the UK’s support, WHO has been able to send and set up this essential equipment across the Pacific. This equipment is essential and will save lives, not only during the current pandemic, but long into the future,” said Dr Akeem Ali, Acting Director for WHO’s Division of Pacific Technical Support based in Suva.

British High Commissioner to the Kingdom of Tonga Lucy Joyce, was proud that the UK has been able to support WHO to help ensure that Tonga is well prepared in the fight against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has varied greatly across the Pacific, some countries have experienced large-scale transmission, while others are among the few countries in the world to remain COVID-free.

WHO Division of Pacific Technical Support  in Fiji, and the WHO Country Liaison Office in Tonga are working to meet these varied needs alongside partners like the UK government.