The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS, has mobilized its global network to provide free air transportation for more than 2 million respirator masks and 11,000 protective coveralls to China, with the aim of combating the spread of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China.
Working with MAP International and MedShare, two Georgia-based nonprofit global health organizations, the UPS operated flight was coordinated through the Red Cross Society of China and the recipient organization Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with Project HOPE.
“The world needs strong public-private partnerships to help contain the spread of this deadly virus and The UPS Foundation is expanding its humanitarian relief network to support our partners in providing supply chain expertise and air transport,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and UPS chief diversity and inclusion officer.
“The UPS Foundation is a member of the Pandemic Supply Chain Network and the Private Sector Roundtable for the Global Health Security Group on Pandemic Preparedness. We have developed a global network of relief agencies to help bring aid to communities in crisis, in this case, to bring medical aid to healthcare workers in China.”
This UPS humanitarian flight touched down at UPS’s Shanghai International Hub on Sunday,Feb. 2 and brought with it personal protective equipment that is currently in short supply in China. The shipment included more than: 2 million respirator masks, 11,000 protective suits and 280,000 pairs of nitrile gloves.
The coronavirus is spreading rapidly in China. More than 20,000 cases have been reported and more than 400 people have died. The virus has been reported in a growing number of countries globally, with the World Health Organisation declaring the outbreak a global health emergency.
“We are grateful to our partners MAP International and MedShare, along with generous product donors and PSCN and PSRT network partners Henry Schein, 3M and others, for helping UPS respond to the coronavirus outbreak,” said Martinez. “Working together we hope to contain and help eradicate the epidemic.”
Last year, The UPS Foundation responded to 28 major world disasters and invested more than US$20 million in funding, in-kind, and technical support for community safety initiatives that included enhancing preparedness, urgent disaster response, recovery and public health strengthening. Building the resiliency that communities need to better withstand and recover from future disasters is an ongoing and strategically important aspect of UPS’s Humanitarian Relief & Resilience Program. Also last year, The UPS Foundation provided in-kind support of humanitarian aid and relief across 74 countries – almost US$6.5 million worth of in-kind services – including loaned experts and relief shipments leveraging UPS’s owned and contracted global network in the air, on the ground, over railroads and on the ocean.
For more information about The UPS Foundation’s philanthropic giving and volunteerism efforts, please visit UPS.com/Foundation.
