The Diplomat
The European Union and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) have set up a joint operation to purchase medicines and medical equipment for the fight against COVID-19 in Central America.
The operation, which is part of the regional contingency plan to deal with the pandemic in Central America, has a total budget of 4.5 million euros and will be carried out through the Central American Integration System (SICA), whose eight member states have approved a joint contingency plan to harmonize and complement their strategies for responding to the health crisis.
Under this plan, SICA is managing a joint price negotiation system for the procurement process of medical materials and supplies for the region. This mechanism contributes to improving the health of the population through better prices, better access to safe and quality medicines. At this time, the most pressing urgency is the financing and procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for public health workers and security forces, as well as laboratory equipment and supplies and medicines, needs that this agreement seeks to alleviate.
This agreement involves the delegation to AECID of four million euros from the European Union for the procurement of medical supplies through the SICA joint negotiation process. The European funds will be distributed among the six beneficiary countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica) on an equal basis and each country will receive the same percentage of funds and will cover, with this aid, the previously prioritized needs. In addition, AECID will contribute half a million euros to be distributed equally between the Dominican Republic and Belize.
The announcement of this commitment of the EU and AECID took place last Friday, coinciding with the official visit of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to Costa Rica, where he participated in two multilateral meetings: the event of solidarity towards forcibly displaced persons and the communities that host them in Central America and Mexico and the Spain-SICA Summit, which addressed economic recovery and regional cooperation.
