Today, Ambassador Donald Blome notified the Tunisian government that the United States Government has committed an additional $25 million grant of bilateral Economic Support Funding to strengthen the Government of Tunisia’s urgent COVID-19 prevention and response efforts.
Funding will be used to support:
- National laboratory capacity focused on increasing testing capacity across the country
- Infection prevention and control focused on provision of supplies and equipment needed urgently at healthcare facilities
- Social mitigation to ensure access to vital medical services and basic necessities for children from vulnerable families whose livelihoods have been affected by the closedown
- Risk communication and community engagement to raise awareness and provide access to information for effective prevention and treatment
- Psycho social support to assist affected families to adapt and cope with the impact of the outbreak on daily life.
For more than a half century, the United States has been the largest contributor to global health security. We built the foundation upon which the global health system is based, contributing more than $140 billion in global health assistance in the 21st Century alone. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. government has committed more than $500 million in assistance specifically aimed at fighting the pandemic.
The United States and the American people remain committed to supporting Tunisians during the response to the coronavirus outbreak. We stand together with the Government of Tunisia to support both this immediate health response, and the long-term health and economic recovery efforts of Tunisia.
