World Vision, Citi provide medical equipment worth LKR 10 MN for Covid care

• Essential medical equipment to hospitals and Covid care centres in 12 districts.

• Will aid medical personnel to better-care for Covid-19 infected persons.
• World Vision continues its support to defeat the pandemic.

Citi joined hands with World Vision Lanka in a yet another partnership to support the fight against Covid-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. This time, Citi Sri Lanka’s kindness which is matched by World Vision Lanka delivered essential medical equipment to hospitals and Covid care centres identified in 12 districts.

Citi Sri Lanka’s donation of LKR 5,000,000 was doubled by World Vision’s match funding to distribute items including oxygen machines, nebulisers, hospital beds and many others worth LKR 10,000,000 in total.  Except for the beds, which were delivered directly to the locations, all other items were provided through the Division of Biomedical Engineering Services of the Ministry of Health covering Ampara, Badulla, Batticaloa, Gampaha, Jaffna, Kandy, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Nuwara Eliya, Puttalam and Trincomalee Districts.

“We are glad to continue our partnership with World Vision Lanka as this is an extraordinary time where the need of the hour is for medical equipment. Citi is committed to reinforce the country’s healthcare infrastructure to strengthen the health and safety of our community,” said Ravin Basnayake, Managing Director of Citi Country Office Sri Lanka. 

World Vision’s first partnership with Citi and Citi Foundation last year facilitated the provision of test kits to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to frontline healthcare workers, multipara monitors and testing booths to the Covid-19 treatment facility in Kandakaduwa and hygiene and disinfectant supplies to the most vulnerable families in several areas.  The total contribution by Citi amounted to USD 100,000.

"Citi was among the first big organisations to partner with us for our initial Covid-19 response," recalled Dr Dhanan Senathirajah, National Director of World Vision Lanka. "We are delighted to have another partnership with Citi to improve the health infrastructure in the country. As the country's health infrastructure has shown signs of overload, I'm certain that this will help ease the load and support the thousands of heroes in the health system. The evolving nature of our partnerships with Citi during the pandemic shows how much they understand the needs of the moment. We treasure this partnership and so do the tens of thousands of beneficiaries."

As the numbers of Covid-19 infected people in Sri Lanka continue, the country's health systems and hospitals, and medical staff have been struggling with inadequate resources needed during a pandemic, especially with various variants that have higher transmissibility and a longer infectious period.

World Vision Lanka began its first Covid-19 response in March 2020 reaching over 400,000 people within six months. The response focused on scaling up preventive measures, strengthening the health system and workers and supporting children through protection, education and nutrition. World Vision has so far supported over 6,000 hospitals, clinics and other health institutions with essential health equipment.

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.