The country’s largest conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SM) has earmarked P100 million to help public hospitals acquire coronavirus (COVID-19) testing kits and equipment for healthcare workers, the front-liners in the battle against this new pandemic.
The amount will be used to procure urgently-needed personal protective equipment (PPE), COVID-19 test kits, alcohol, and other medical supplies to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), and other hospitals.
In a press statement, the group said it had also reached out to Manila Healthtek Inc., the producer of the local test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH) team, to distribute 20,000 tests for free to government hospitals, once approved for use.
SM said it had also been working with both PGH and RITM to see how to expand laboratory testing capacity.
“As there is a local shortage of personal protective equipment – face masks, gowns, visors, hoods, gloves, and shoe covers, SM is bringing these PPEs in for government hospitals who badly need them,” the conglomerate said.
To provide PPEs and medical supplies to an even wider network of hospitals, SM has also been working actively with UP Medical Foundation Inc. to reach their network of hospitals.