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France to provide financial aid to RITM amid COVID-19 crisis


France on Thursday announced that it would provide funding to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the country's main research and laboratory facility, to support its COVID-19 response.

RITM was among the seven Southeast Asian frontline laboratories selected by France to receive financial aid under its €2-million ECOMORE II project through the French Development Agency (AFD).

The Embassy of France, in a statement, said the assistance would be used for the "reinforcement of equipment, purchase of diagnostic kits, acquisition of personal protective equipment, reinforcement in human resources, training and transfer of skills, deployment of mass testing complementing current molecular diagnosis, and support for data processing in partnership with France’s Institute for Research for Development (IRD) to strengthen the surveillance of the epidemic."

"Due to significant disparities in health systems both nationally and regionally, Southeast Asia is at high risk as Covid-19 continues to spread," the French Embassy said.

"Although only 755 cases were confirmed in the area in the first two months of the epidemic, a second wave of contagion began in mid-March, leading to more than 6,000 cases, suggesting that major challenges lie ahead."

ECOMORE stands for Economic Development, Ecosystem Modifications, and Emerging Infectious Diseases Risk Evaluation. Other recipient states are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

"It is essential to delay the peak of the epidemic in Southeast Asia as much as possible, as recommended by the WHO, by supporting partner countries' monitoring policies and strategies pertaining to the spread of the virus through laboratory capacity building," said Yazid Bensaïd, French Development Agency Regional Director in Southeast Asia.

To date, the Philippines has recorded 8,212 cases, 558 deaths, and 1,023 recoveries. -NB, GMA News

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