Germany to help Brazil with mobile health units

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development announced on Wednesday, March 3rd, a partnership with Mercedes-Benz Brazil to adapt mobile health units, which will attend covid-19 patients in isolated regions of the country.

The care offered at these health posts pulled by trucks will be free of charge and aimed at helping Brazilian efforts to fight the covid-19 pandemic, the portfolio said.

“The coronavirus is affecting the poorest of the poor the hardest. Brazil is the third country in the world in terms of number of cases, and covid-19 has killed over 250.000 people there,” said the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller, at the signing of the agreement with the truck and bus manufacturer.

“We must be clear: We can only defeat the coronavirus globally. Otherwise, it will come back to Europe, and perhaps even more dangerous. Germany will not leave its Brazilian partners and friends alone in this crisis,” Müller added.

According to him, the mobile units will help diagnose the disease, but can also be used for other medical emergencies. In addition to the treatment of covid-19, the units are equipped to perform MRI exams and also minor operations.

The German government will invest EUR4.5 million (almost R$31 million) in the project, while Mercedes-Benz Brazil has contributed approximately EUR1 million. The funds will be used to produce the units and to purchase the necessary equipment.

The mobile units will be managed by local non-governmental organizations, which will also supply the medical teams to work at these stations. The project is scheduled to run until 2024. After this date, the units will be handed over to the NGOs for future use.

According to Mercedes-Benz Brazil’s CEO, Karl Deppen, the amount allocated by the assembler to the project will be used to pay employees and drivers and to loan the New Actros trucks, which will pull the health units, as well as fuel and insurance for the 8 stations.

It is estimated that in 3 years the units will provide care to about 250.000 Brazilians.

Worst moment of the epidemic

The German announcement comes one day after Brazil registered its highest death toll in 24 hours since the start of the pandemic. The country is still experiencing the worst moment of the crisis, with the number of cases increasing and health systems on the verge of collapse in several states.

On Tuesday, Brazil officially registered 1.641 covid-19-related deaths, according to data released by the National Council of Health Secretaries (CONASS). It is the worst mark ever recorded since the start of the pandemic, beating the July 29th record, when 1.595 deaths were registered. This brings the total number of deaths associated with the disease in Brazil to 257.361.