Health Ministry distributes 53 million items of PPE

Brazil’s Health Ministry reported it has distributed 53.1 million items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals all over the country in the past few days and intends to acquire more PPE units soon. 

The decision comes amid concerns on whether Brazilian hospitals will be able to adequately protect their health professionals. Public institutions such as Hospital São Paulo — run by the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) — and the Hospital das Clínicas — administered by the Medical Faculty of the University of São Paulo (FMUSP) — started their own fundraising efforts to gather sufficient supplies for the Covid-19 health crisis. As The Brazilian Report published last week, volunteers from all over the country are producing PPE using 3D printing techniques. 

According to the ministry, the following items have been delivered: 

• 15.8 million masks
• 23.9 million gloves
• 12.4 million medical shoe covers and scrub caps
• 742,000 aprons
• 183,300 bottles of hand sanitizer

• Go deeper: 3D printing initiatives to provide PPE equipment for hospitals

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