The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday (June 11) said 337 donated respirators have been delivered to more than 100 government and private hospitals, with another 63 respirators on standby, ready to be deployed to regions experiencing surges of COVID-19 cases.
The DOH clarified that it received 400 respirators from the Temasek Foundation, a Singapore-based non-profit organisation under the philanthropic arm of the Singapore state sovereign fund Temasek Holdings.
Of the 400 units, 30 were sponsored by a private company associated with the tobacco industry.
The DOH did not accept the latter donations in line with Civil Service Commission-DOH Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2010-01 prohibiting government agencies from accepting donations from the tobacco industry. Instead, the DOH facilitated the immediate delivery of the machines to 10 private hospitals identified by the private company, to be used on COVID-19 patients.
The DOH thanked the Temasek Foundation for the donated respirators and the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore for facilitating the delivery of the donations. (DOH) – jlo
