The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has obligated $18 million to support the provision of medical oxygen across 11 affected countries:  the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; and the Republics of Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haïti, Honduras, Kenya, Mozambique, Perú, and Tajikistan.  Supplemental oxygen is an essential, life-saving treatment for people ill with COVID-19.  The funds announced will purchase and distribute oxygen-generating equipment and related consumables and durables, and finance technical assistance to train health-care workers to use them. 

The leading-edge equipment, technology, and assistance provided by this funding builds upon the more than $1.6 billion the U.S. Department of State and USAID have already committed to the global fight against the novel coronavirus.  Through an All-of-America approach, the United States will provide the $18 million in new funding for oxygen during Fiscal Year 2021 in coordination with host-country governments and other key stakeholders to promote the sustainability of this investment.

For decades, the United States has been the world's largest provider of bilateral assistance in health.  Since 2009, American taxpayers generously have funded more than $100 billion in health assistance, and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance, around the world. 

For more information on USAID’s response to COVID-19, click here.