HEALTH | 08.10.2020
Fundación MAPFRE donates funds to buy oxygen and ventilators for COVID-19 patients in Peru
Fundación MAPFRE continues to take action in different Latin American countries as part of its international aid program to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in the countries where it operates. The health situation being faced in Peru makes this a priority country for Fundación MAPFRE in terms of aid delivery. The Company has recently provided the country’s authorities with personal protective equipment, granted funding for the purchase of mechanical ventilators and taken part in campaigns to build up oxygen supplies in order to treat patients suffering from this illness.
One of these initiatives is Respira Perú, literally: Breathe Peru, promoted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Peru, which aims to raise funds to provide the most vulnerable patients with oxygen. Fundación MAPFRE is also one of the donor organizations of the Proyecto MASI initiative run by the PUCP (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú — Pontifical Catholic University of Peru), which was launched as an immediate response to the health crisis in order to produce emergency mechanical ventilators. In this first phase, they embarked on producing 300 units. As well as protecting the lives of coronavirus patients, they provide hospitals with modern equipment with interactive displays that facilitate remote monitoring and offer three different ventilation modes, according to the condition of the patient.
“This is a great step forward for the nation’s technology as it marks the development of a local industry for biomedical equipment manufacturing in Peru. And this is not just something that is possible, it’s something that is necessary,” says Dr. Benjamin Castañeda, Director of PUCP’s Medical Engineering Research Center and general coordinator of the Proyecto MASI initiative.
Fundación MAPFRE has also provided the Cámara de Comercio e Industria de Arequipa (Arequipa Chamber of Commerce — pictured) with personal protective equipment, including masks and visors. This will be distributed to medical personnel in vulnerable areas, as well as being used for campaigns run by the country’s Ministry of Health. It has also funded the provision of an additional 2,000 visors to the Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications for drivers and ticket collectors on public transport following the adoption of a regulation that made their use mandatory.
