The United States is leading the global response to COVID-19 with foreign assistance funding. The U.S. Government (USG) has allocated $20.5 billion for the development of vaccines and therapeutics, preparedness efforts, and other foreign assistance. So far among Mano River Union countries Sierra Leone has received the highest number of assistance. Sierra Leone received $6.2 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance to address the outbreak by strengthening surveillance activities, case-finding, contact-tracing, risk-communications, community engagement, emergency food assistance, and the management of cases of COVID-19 at health facilities.
This assistance joins decades of U.S. investments in Sierra Leone, totaling more than $954 million in total assistance over the past 20 years, including nearly $260 million for health.
Guinea received $1.3 million in health assistance to address the outbreak by financing risk-communications and community-outreach activities, the training of health workers to implement protocols to prevent and control infections in health facilities; and disease-surveillance and rapid-response protocols and functionality. The United States has invested nearly $1 billion in total assistance in Guinea over the last 20 years, including over $365.5 million for health.
Liberia receives $2.3 million in health and IDA humanitarian assistance to provide critical aid for all 15 Liberian Counties (emergency-operation centres, training, contact-tracing, hospitals, and community healthcare), support quarantine efforts, and provide village-level support. The United States has helped lay a strong foundation for Liberia’s response to COVID-19 through more than $4 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years, including more than $675 million for health.
Côte d’Ivoire receives $3.2 million in health assistance to address the outbreak by financing risk-communications and community engagement; the training of healthcare providers in protocols for preventing and controlling infections in health facilities and the appropriate management of cases of COVID-19 and influenza-like illnesses; and ensuring these facilities are appropriately supplied with essential health commodities.
Funding will also finance the training of health workers in critical community-level surveillance techniques, such as case-finding and contact-tracing. Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $2.1 billion in long-term development and other assistance in Côte d’Ivoire. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. Government has also announced more than $1.6 billion in State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fight the pandemic.
This funding is to improve public health education; protecting healthcare facilities; and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries.
By Ophaniel Gooding