Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane recently hosted a virtual meeting with US amabassador to SA Lana Marks to discuss US support for the province during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Picture: EUGENE COETZEE
The US has assisted the Eastern Cape in a number of ways since earlier this year.
For example, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) recently donated ventilators to healthcare facilities around the country, 50 of which have been installed in the Eastern Cape so far.
Other US-based agencies and programmes – such as the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) – have also chipped in by deploying community healthcare workers to assist the provincial health department and assisting with the training of 500 caregivers to support patients in field hospitals.
The province’s partnership with the US goes back nearly 17 years, with PEPFAR assisting the Eastern Cape in caring for and treating people living with both HIV/Aids and TB.
“The United States is the Eastern Cape and South Africa’s closest friend in the health realm,” Marks said.
“Our two governments have been working together for nearly two decades to save lives in the province.”
