The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have announced approximately K12 million ($3.8) in urgent COVID-19 assistance for Papua New Guinea as part of the American Rescue Act.
This assistance will help accelerate widespread and equitable access to and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, strengthen health systems, and support other public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and the recent emergence of the Delta variant in Papua New Guinea.
U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu Erin E. McKee said, “Papua New Guinea is working hard to address the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic within its communities.”
She added, “This assistance from the American people underscores our enduring partnership and commitment to combat this unprecedented global health crisis together.”
With this assistance, the U.S. government, through USAID, has provided more than K30 ($9.2) million to address COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea.
USAID assistance has helped the country implement internationally recognized infection prevention and control strategies, strengthen laboratory systems, case management, and surveillance tracking, and communicate effectively about COVID-19 prevention and care.
Additionally, the United States has already contributed K6 ($2) billion, as part of its K13 ($4) billion pledge, to support COVAX — a global effort to provide safe and effective vaccines for 92 countries, including Papua New Guinea. The country has already received 580,400 vaccine doses from the COVAX Facility, including 302,400 Johnson & Johnson vaccines donated directly by the U.S. government.
The U.S. is committed to collaborating with Papua New Guinea and other Pacific Island countries to end the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigate its devastating social and economic impacts, and build back a world that is even better prepared for future outbreaks.
These efforts build on decades of life-saving work and U.S. leadership in tackling global health crises. For the past 60 years since its founding in 1961, USAID has saved millions of lives from diseases such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and now COVID-19.