NEW MEDICAL EQUIPMENT. Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Government leads the turnover of ventilator machines and other equipment to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City and the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao on Thursday (Nov. 12, 2020). Eight other partner-hospitals in BARMM are set to receive the same equipment worth over PHP10-million through the help of the United Nations Development Programme. (Photo courtesy of MILG-BARMM)
COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao started distributing Thursday more than PHP10-million worth of ventilators and equipment for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response to partner-hospitals in the region.
In this city, the BARMM’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READI), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), handed over one ventilator each with support medical equipment to the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and the Cotabato Regional Medical Center.
The donated materials were personally received by Dr. Ibrahim Pangato of the CSH and Dr. Helen Yambao of CRMC together with acting BARMM health minister Dr. Amirel Usman and Ms. Mikko Ortouste of UNDP-Cotabato office.
“We will be shipping soonest to other partner-hospitals in the region their respective ventilators and other equipment,” said lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, the BARMM’s interior and local government minister.
Sinarimbo, concurrent BARMM-READI chief and designated regional spokesperson, said the ventilator machines alone costs PHP1-million each.
Aside from the ventilators, partner-hospitals are also set to receive air purifiers, personal protective equipment, vitamins, and hygiene kits.
The BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Lamitan, Marawi, and Cotabato; and the 63 villages in six towns of North Cotabato. (PNA)
