USAID to provide $2.9 million to support fight against Covid-19 in India

The new funds will help the Indian government to “slow the spread of Covid-19, provide care for the affected, and support local communities with the tools needed to contain the disease”, a US embassy statement said.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide $2.9 million to support a health organisation and the WHO in their efforts to counter Covid-19 in India.

Mumbai Fire brigade officials sanitise the Null Bazar area in efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, Sunday, April 5, 2020.(Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

A total of $2.4 million will go to USAID’s health strengthening project implemented by Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organisation affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, and $500,000 to the World Health Organization (WHO), the US embassy said in a statement on Monday.

The new funds will help the Indian government to “slow the spread of Covid-19, provide care for the affected, and support local communities with the tools needed to contain the disease”, the statement said.

The new funding builds on a foundation of more than $1.4 billion in health assistance, and nearly $3 billion in total assistance, that the US has provided to India over the past 20 years.

Praising India’s efforts to counter the disease, US ambassador Kenneth Juster said the USAID assistance will further support the country’s response.

“Covid-19 is a global public health threat that can be addressed best by close collaboration among governments and international organisations. The US government, through USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other US Department of Health and Human Services agencies, is working closely with the government of India and multilateral agencies to support India’s response to this global pandemic,” he said.

The US has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health for several decades. Since 2009, American taxpayers have made available more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally.

US contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the second largest member state’s contribution, while US support to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) was nearly $1.7 billion in 2019. US contributions to the UN Children’s Fund in 2019 totalled more than $700 million.

“Because an infectious disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the US calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat Covid-19,” the statement said.