EAGLE NEWS —The Republic of Guatemala and its President, Alejandro Giammattei received on June 22, 72,000 RT PCR tests for the detection and diagnosis of the virus causing their respiratory syndrome of COVID-19. This generous donation will serve to strengthen the institutional response of the government of Guatemala to this pandemic.
Through this goodwill gesture, President Alejandro Giammattei said that “They’re friends we have to honor such as the European Union.”
These 72,000 tests may seem like a small amount, but in reality, this is a contribution to a country that is required to use many of its resources destined to emergency care.
The symbolic donation took place in the facilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the ambassador European Union in Guatemala, Mr. Stefano Gatto, and the representative of the Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization in Guatemala, Mr. Oscar Barreneche, were in charge. The tests kits received, came from the European virus ICAR consulting—a group of 25 laboratories funded by the European Union, including the Institute of Medical immunology of the Charité University in Berlin.
Endorsed by the standards of the World Health Organization, Ambassador Gatto indicated that the objective of this donation is to help raise the capacity of carrying out correctly the test to prevent the virus from spreading.
This is not the first time the European Union has supported Guatemala. Since 1994, the EU has donated over 570 million Euros for humanitarian projects in Central America. Those funds was used to respond to humanitarian emergencies derived from natural disasters, relocation and humanitarian consequences of widespread organized violence, and to strengthen the preparedness of the most vulnerable communities and institutions for new emergencies.
The most recent help received from the European Union was the 550,000 Euros in response to the damages caused by the tropical storm Amanda in May, which had a great impact in El Salvador and in Guatemala.
© Eagle News