United Arab Emirates sends medical aid to Colombia to fight coronavirus

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) delivered on Monday the third aid package to Colombia with 6 metric tons of medical supplies to reinforce the South American country's efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. 

The supplies will support approximately 6,000 medical professionals working to combat the coronavirus.  

UAE Ambassador to Colombia Salem Rashid al-Owais underscored this basic cooperation at a difficult time: “The UAE and Colombia are bound by historic ties distinguished by friendship, consensus, and cooperation on various fronts in reflection of efforts by both countries’ leadership to develop and strengthen such bonds.”

“In continuation of the UAE’s contributions to building capacity in Colombia’s healthcare sector, the UAE sent a third aid plane today that follows two other shipments containing 21 metric tons of medical aid and 200,000 COVID-19 testing kits over the past three months. More than 21,000 medical professionals benefited from this assistance, affirming that the UAE stands with friendly nations in combating the pandemic,” Al-Owais said in a statement released by the official Emirate news agency WAM. 

So far, the UAE has responded to the coronavirus health crisis by providing more than 1,144 metric tons of aid to 90 countries, supporting more than one million medical professionals in the process. The Gulf nation offers assistance to all types of nations without any political, racial or religious status, demonstrating its full commitment to the international fight against COVID-19. 

The list of countries that have received assistance from the Emirates is already long and includes everything from major powers to more modest countries on the international scene, including some that can be considered diplomatic enemies, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, to which it has sent supplies on up to four occasions.