This shipment is intended to help address the second wave of HIV/AIDS-19 in the country, which currently has the world's highest rate of positive cases - an average of 380,000 infected per day - and the third highest number of deaths, after the United States and Brazil.
The Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno Bau, the Secretary of State for Health, Silvia Calzón, together with the Indian Ambassador to Spain, Sanjay Verma, and the Director of the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, today visited the cargo terminal at Barajas International Airport to supervise the loading of medical material that will be sent to India tomorrow on a commercial flight with a stopover in Saudi Arabia.
In response to the appeal for international aid made by India on April 23 through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, which was also joined by Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic on behalf of the European Union, Spain is sending a total of 167 respirators and 121 oxygen concentrators, as well as consumables such as filters and masks for an approximate amount of two million euros.
Of all the equipment, 111 oxygen concentrators, 22 respirators and consumables were purchased by the Humanitarian Action Office of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AECID; in addition, the Ministry of Health donated 10 oxygen concentrators and 141 respirators, plus 4 respirators manufactured and donated by the Spanish company Inbentus.
During her presence at Barajas, the Secretary of State for International Cooperation said that for Spain and the European Union "it is an unquestionable duty to respond to the suffering of so many people; it is an ethical requirement and a necessity in order to overcome the magnitude of this crisis".
For her part, the Secretary of State for Health stated that "we are facing a pandemic with global repercussions whose solution can only be global and therefore requires the help and solidarity of all".
The Ambassador of India thanked, on behalf of his Government and the people of India, "the support and solidarity of Spain in the fight against the second wave of COVID-19", and stressed that "it is a gesture that reinforces the close and long-standing relations between the two countries". He also recalled that "at the beginning of the pandemic, India did the same with other countries, for which we show our gratitude which is nothing but a reflection of mutual cooperation and goodwill".
The cargo, articulated by AECID, will arrive in New Delhi on Monday, May 10, and will be delivered to the Indian Red Cross for distribution. A second shipment from Barajas is also scheduled for next week.
In addition to the European Civil Protection Mechanism, there will be another shipment tomorrow from Barcelona with 400 respirators and 200 oxygen concentrators on behalf of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation and Open Arms organizations with the support of civil society agents and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
