New Delhi: The Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation have donated essential medical supplies to India along with six more countries — Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Collectively, these seven countries will receive a total of 1.7 million face masks, 1,65,000 test kits as well as protective clothing and medical equipment such as ventilators, forehead thermometers.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to make a difference, most importantly by sourcing these supplies and overcoming logistical challenges to get the medical supplies to where they are needed as fast as we can,” a Jack Ma Foundation spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday.
With this announcement, the two foundations have now donated essential medical supplies to 23 Asian countries, totalling 7.4 million masks, 4,85,000 test kits along with other medical equipment.
The first batch of medical supplies for India arrived in Delhi on Saturday night and was received by the Indian Red Cross Society.
“To supplement the efforts of government, Indian Red Cross has mobilised first tranche of supplies consisting of facemasks, protective body suits and essential medical equipment,” said R.K Jain, Secretary General, Indian Red Cross.
Similar to the arrangement with the Italian Red Cross Society in Italy, the Indian charity will facilitate the distribution of these supplies in the country.
These donations are among a number of aid initiatives from the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation to support the areas of the world affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
Prasanta Patnaik