Bangkok--22 Apr--Spark Communications
Donation will help Department of Medical Services Foundation increase bed capacity, reserve antiviral drug stock and procure medical equipment and testing kits
Novartis, the Swiss-based pharmaceutical company, on 15 April donated THB 7.75m to Thailand’s Department of Medical Services Foundation to support public hospitals designated as COVID-19 centres. The Department of Medical Services Foundation, a charitable entity, manages COVID-19 monetary donations for hospitals within its network.
The donation will be used to support important services as Thailand steps up its efforts to combat the unprecedented public health crisis that is spreading around the globe. The donation scope includes supporting additional bed capacity for diagnosed and convalescing patients in Thailand.
Funds will also be used to reserve stock a host of medications used to treat patients affected by COVID-19, including Favipiravir, an antiviral drug that has had some success in treating Novel Coronavirus patients. Once in stock, these drugs will be distributed to Bangkok and provincial hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients. In addition, funds will be used to procure COVID-19 testing kits, medical equipment for health care professionals such as PPE suits and surgical masks, and support of other diagnostic costs such as x-rays.
Sumalee Kristarnin (PharmD), Country President Novartis Thailand said “With this unconditional donation we are proud to support the Foundation’s efforts in battling this pandemic, and providing optimal care for Thai patients. Novartis established the COVID-19 Response Fund to support critical community and national programmes (NPs) that can help address urgent public health needs resulting from COVID-19. It is one of a number of measures we have put in place to help the Thai government and healthcare workers combat COVID-19, and we continue to provide support at this critical time as the safety of society is of paramount importance,” LINK
Hospitals within the Department of Medical Services Foundation network are primarily within the Bangkok metropolitan area where the majority of cases have been identified and treated to date.
Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health said “We are thankful for this donation from Novartis as it helps us find additional support to patients, hospitals and healthcare professionals at a critical time,”
The donation is the latest measure Novartis has initiated as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand. Since the crisis began normal working practices and processes have been adjusted to support frontline healthcare workers. As well as employing a Work from Home policy to ensure social distancing practices are followed in line with government policy, teams based at hospitals have also been withdrawn for their safety and to ensure medical professionals can carry out their important work in caring for patients.
About Novartis
Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world’s top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach more than 750 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 105,000 people of more than 140 nationalities work at Novartis around the world.