Apple continues to help the world in fighting the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In a new, the company has donated antiretroviral to Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. The antiretrovirals are reportedly an addition to the “boxes” of face masks and face shields that the company has been sending as relief packages.
The Cupertino based company Apple has been very active in helping in these difficult times. Apple had donated around 20 million masks in the month of April – it was one of the first companies to reach out. The new donations of antiretrovirals will help fight AIDS while also making sure that covid-19 is also under control with the help of face masks and face shields.
To cut the transmission of infections
Apple has reportedly also donated personal protective equipment (PPE) clothing to the Health Ministry of Zambia. The company had also produced its self-designed face masks out of the supply chain used for its own products.
“This provision of PPE will go a long way in cutting the transmission of infections,” said Mwanza, a Clinician who has difficulties maintaining her clinic in the current situation, especially for her HIV patients. “The biggest challenge right now is that people stopped coming for follow-ups because they felt they would interact with people that had COVID-19.”
This year, Apple began redirecting its earnings from (RED) products towards the COVID-19 Response Mechanism. Usually, the (RED) products money goes towards HIV/AIDS treatment programmes as donations.
“People are now afraid to go to health facilities,” said Yoram Siame, the head of Advocacy, Planning, and Development, CHAZ*. “This is a very big issue for people living with HIV because when you talk about COVID-19, it disproportionately kills people with preexisting conditions. So how do you ensure that people on lifelong treatment are supported? At the same time, how do they come to a health facility with an assurance that they are safe? So it’s a bit of a difficult balancing act.”
*CHAZ – Churches Health Association of Zambia
