By TRN Online, Kathmandu, May 20: Spain has donated medical supplies to Nepal worth a million Euro.

The medical supplies amounting to five tons was handed over to Minister for Health and Population Hridyesh Tripathi by Magdy Martínez-Solimán, the Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), amidst a function at the Tribhuvan International Airport today.

The medical supplies were flown to Kathmandu from Spain by a chartered flight.

The equipment donated by Spanish Ministry of Health comprises 33 pallets, valued at around 1 million euros. The shipment, with more than 5 tonnes of health material, includes 15 respirators, 10 oxygen concentrators, together with consumables and spare parts necessary for their use, 144,000 FFP2 face masks and some 125,000 antigen tests, a press release issued by the Embassy of Nepal in Spain read.

As COVID-19 cases surged in May, Nepal requested aid from the European Civil Protection Mechanism to provide medical supplies and help contain the spread of the pandemic. At the same time the Embassy of Nepal, Madrid sent a request to Spain’s Foreign Ministry, to which an immediate offer to provide humanitarian support to Nepal was made.

The chartered flight also brought in health materials collected by Nepali diaspora in Spain to assist Nepal. This includes supplies like masks, Sanitizers, Gloves and other materials, according to the embassy.

To hand over the medical supplies, a delegation has arrived here in Nepal. The delegation includes Ambassador of Nepal to Spain, Dawa F. Sherpa, Magdy Martínez-Solimán, the Director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Manuel Gonzalez Garragori, Director of the Division of Consular Emergency, Roberto Arranz Arran, MAEC, Head of the Emergency & Post conflict Department, AECID), Official of Department of Communication, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Media persons from Spain.

AECID has also offered the Ministry of Health of Nepal a specialized medical training package in response to the pandemic, in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Health, the country’s large hospitals and the Comunidades Autónomas, according to the embassy.