BRAC has acquired 56 million three-layered reusable cotton masks from Hanesbrands Inc., a US multinational firm, as Bangladesh prepares for a possible fresh wave of Covid-19, exacerbated by the Omicron form. The masks will be supplied through community clinics to the most vulnerable persons in all 64 districts.
At a ceremony at the BRAC Centre in the capital this January, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller formally handed over the masks to Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC.
The ceremony was attended by Lokman Hossain Miah, senior secretary to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Health Services Division, as well as KM Tariqul Islam, director-general, NGO Affairs Bureau, and Earl R Miller, US Ambassador to Bangladesh, as special guests.
The Open Society Foundation (OSF) and Yale University, both based in the United States, worked together to manage the delivery of the masks to BRAC.
Senior secretary Lokman Hossain Miah congratulated BRAC, Hanesbrands and other entities involved in this “great” initiative, and said, “There are two major ways to tackle transmission of Covid-19 at present. One is to ensure the wearing of masks by people including rickshaw-pullers, street vendors and day laborers who are constantly on the move for their livelihoods, and the other is vaccination. So it’s imperative that we make facemasks easily available to these people.”
US ambassador Earl R Miller at the ceremony said, “BRAC, the Government of Bangladesh, the American private sector and the US Embassy are working together to provide over 56 million masks to the Bangladeshi people donated by Hanesbrands, the American clothing company based in North Carolina. By heeding the lessons of science and history and through collaborative efforts like these, together, as a global community, we will defeat this pandemic.”
“This large quantity of masks will substantially assist our vulnerable populations in their fight against the pandemic,” said KM Tariqul Islam, director-general of the NGO Affairs Bureau. BRAC will distribute the masks through the government’s community clinic network around the country.
“Making masks available and accessible for all is vital in the fight against Covid-19,” the BRAC executive director said, thanking the US government, Hanesbrands, Open Society Foundation (OSF), and Yale University for arranging the donation. In Bangladesh, we have observed substantial progress with mass immunization in high-risk areas, but additional precautions, including as wearing masks, are still necessary. This donation will enable us to expand our preventative efforts and ensure that free masks are distributed to those who need them most. We are grateful to have the assistance of a number of partners, who, in addition to contributing resources, give us hope that we are not alone in our fight.”
