New Delhi:  On April 16, the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced an additional $3 million to India to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.  In coordination with the Government of India, USAID is providing these funds to the Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity (PAHAL) project, an innovative financing platform of IPE Global.

In announcing this assistance, U.S. Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster stated, “This additional funding to support India in its continuing efforts to combat COVID-19 is yet another example of the strong and enduring partnership between the United States and India.”

To date, USAID has provided $5.9 million to assist India in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.  This assistance will help India slow the spread of COVID-19, provide care for the affected, disseminate essential public health messages to communities, and strengthen case finding and surveillance.

Through the PAHAL project, USAID will support the National Health Authority to establish a financing facility that can mobilize resources from the private sector to assist over 20,000 health facilities enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), India’s health insurance scheme for 500 million poor and vulnerable people.

For decades, the United States has been the world’s largest provider of bilateral assistance in public health.  In India, the U.S. Government, through USAID and Department of Health and Human Services agencies, including the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, has provided more than $1.4 billion in health assistance and nearly $2.8 billion in total assistance over the last 20 years.

Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance.  Because an infectious-disease threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, the United States calls on other donors to contribute to the global effort to combat COVID-19.  

For more information about USAID’s response to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.usaid.gov/coronavirus-covid-19