USAID donates 1 million Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test kits to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan received a consignment of one million COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test (Ag-RDT) kits, donated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The donation was formally handed over to the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan during a ceremony in Islamabad.

Dr Sultan thanked  USAID for donating the Ag-RDT kits and said that the effort by the US reflects "warm relations between the two countries."

USAID Mission Director Julie Koenen in her address, said that donated supplies  would serve Pakistan’s needs of quick surveillance and diagnosis, as well as limiting the spread of coronavirus to the lowest possible level within the country.

The US mobilized aircraft carrying the Ag-RDT kits has been sent to Pakistan for helping the country with urgent diagnosis of the contagion as the country continues to battle the dangerous surge in cases.

Pakistan has so far received the aid of over $40 million, including medical and technical equipment on account of COVID-19 response assistance since the pandemic hit the country.