CITIZENS RESPONSE JAMAICA GIFTS PPE FOR FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS
Jamaica’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been strengthened by a gift of 372 reusable gowns and 450 face shields, presented to the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Hon. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn by the group Citizens Response Jamaica (CRJA). The gift of personal protection equipment (PPE) for use by frontline workers in the healthcare system across the island, is even more meaningful as all the items were produced locally by manufacturers within and contracted by the group.
The handing over took place at the Ministry’s Grenada Way offices on Monday July 5, 2021/ Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
The Health and Wellness Minister of State expressed her team’s gratitude for the support, and commended CRJA for the innovation, energy and caring hearts of its members, “Our COVID-19 response has shown us that it requires a never before seen level of resource mobilization to finance a national public health response plan. This is indeed a plan that we definitely appreciate as we have gathered that in order to protect public health, and in particularly the health of those vulnerabilities, the response can only be successful through partnership. Today we are pleased to accept personable protective equipment in the form of reusable gowns and face shields to be utilized by the heroes of the pandemic, our healthcare workers. We continue to salute their hard work and commitment to fight to ensure that our country recovers from COVID-19 and the donation this morning will form part of our success.”
Citizens Response Jamaica is a unique coalition of Jamaican citizens including entrepreneurs, engineers, technical experts, medical doctors, consultants and companies, brought together by the shared goal of contributing to the efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group partners with the private sector and the public health system to inspire resourcefulness and innovation to fight the virus in our country. This collaboration includes partnerships with ICD Group Holdings Limited, which provides CRJA with technical support in a range of professional services, and with The MultiCare Youth Foundation, which serves as its executing agency.
Playing a major role in the project by the CRJA is the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which, as a funding partner, provided the Jamaican citizen’s group with US$21,000.
CRJA spokesperson Larren Peart noted that “The initiatives by CRJA were rooted in developing home-grown solutions to manage the impact of the Corona Virus locally. As concerned citizens with a desire to use our collective power to help, we were able to leverage private sector support, the volunteerism of individuals and our collective humanity.”
Peart thanked the IDB, noting that the CRJA’s vision was immediately backed by the international development partner. “We are not only grateful that the IDB’s assistance has allowed for this critical contribution to the health sector, but that it has simultaneously empowered ordinary citizens to actively participate in the process of creating impact when and where it is needed.”