PRESS RELEASE

EU aid PROGRAMME FOR the Turkish Cypriot community

EU Earmarks EUR5 Million for Support in response to COVID-19 Pandemic

23 March 2020

The European Commission will fund the provision of medical equipment and supplies to the Turkish Cypriot community in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with an indicative budget of EUR5 million.  EU’s support is co-ordinated through a contract with the UNDP and in collaboration with an international health expert, the co-chair of the bi-communal committee on health and relevant local stakeholders. 

The needs are assessed in line with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidance to ensure the provision of the most relevant and urgent elements are covered. The European Commission works intensively to ensure that the delivered equipment will be fully operational immediately.

Medical equipment and supplies that will be provided include items such as:

• intensive care medical equipment such as ventilators,
• personal protective equipment such as gowns, safety goggles, face shields, N95 masks,
• test kits, antibiotics and antivirals.

The first batch of urgent medical supplies will mainly cover personal protection equipment (PPE), test kits, reagents used in Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) materials.