Emirates sends aid against COVID-19 to Azerbaijan

The United Arab Emirates sent an aid plane containing 11 metric tonnes of medical supplies to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of efforts to strengthen the capacity of the health sector in several countries to contain the spread of COVID-19, a disease that has already infected more than 8.9 million people worldwide and killed at least 468,000. 

More than 11,000 medical professionals will be able to benefit from this aid in their work to contain this pathogen; in the same way that health professionals in countries such as Jordan, Colombia or the Dominican Republic have been able to do so, nations where the Gulf country has sent aid during the last week. 

Mohammed Ahmed Hamel al-Qubaisi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Azerbaijan, said that "relations between the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan are making significant progress in many areas. This is supported by the shared vision of the leaders of both countries to strengthen the ties of friendship, understanding and mutual support on many regional and international issues of common interest".

"The sending of medically assisted aircraft is a testament to the UAE leadership's adoption of an approach that supports friendly countries in a variety of circumstances, especially in light of the challenges the world faces in fighting the pandemic," he added. 

The UAE has strengthened its position globally by sending humanitarian aid to other countries to address the new coronavirus. A few days ago, on the occasion of International Refugee Day, which is commemorated every year on 20 June, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai, oversaw the dispatch of urgent humanitarian aid to assist hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in Burkina Faso, to support the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the region. 

So far, the UAE has responded to the COVID-19 crisis by providing more than 946 metric tonnes of aid to 67 countries and supporting more than 946,000 medical professionals in their fight against the disease. Among the nations that have received assistance from the UAE are Iran, Russia, China, and recently Jordan, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, Ghana and the United Kingdom, among others.