Bulgarian Ministry of Health discloses expenditure to fight Covid-19 – The Sofia Globe

The Bulgarian Ministry of Health said on June 3 that the “Fighting Covid-19” project, funded by European Union funds, is extended until December 8 this year.

The ministry said it would announce two procedures under the Public Procurement Law to purchase laboratory equipment.

The first cases of Covid-19 in Bulgaria were registered on March 8, 2020, and in April of the same year signed a contract for the “Combating Covid-19” project, funded with the help of more than 40.4 million leva from the Growing Regions operational program of the EU.

Revealing how the funding was used, the health ministry said 453 ventilators to treat patients with Covid-19 had been purchased and supplied to state, municipal and departmental medical institutions.

Ten thousand high-end medical pulse oximeters were provided to emergency medical care centers.

The National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) received an automated extraction system and a real-time PCR detection system, with 46,000 extraction tests and 46,000 detection tests, as well as laboratory equipment from all kinds.

A total of 144,000 PCR tests were provided to NCIPD, Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate, Medical University of Plovdiv, Medical University of Pleven and Stara Zagora University Hospital .

Also purchased were 1.5 million surgical masks, 3,110,103 non-medical masks, 200,000 pairs of goggles, 2,391,600 footwear protective gear, 150,000 pairs of footwear protective gear, 60,000 gowns multi-use protective clothing, 391,098 single-use protective gowns and 20,664 liters of disinfectant.

The Ministry of Health said the main activities of the project were the supply of medical equipment, including invasive respiratory ventilation and diagnostic devices.

“The objective is to increase the capacity of hospitals to treat patients with Covid-19, as well as the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases,” the ministry said.

He said that protective clothing, masks, equipment and other items have been provided to staff of medical institutions, regional health inspections, emergency medical care centers, as well as staff of the NCIPD.

Separately, on May 22, the local television channel bTV, citing data provided to it by the Ministry of Health, said that Bulgaria had spent 320 million leva (about 163.6 million euros) to buy vaccines against Covid-19.

On June 1, local media said that Bulgaria – the country with the lowest vaccination rate in the EU-EEA zone – had thrown away Covid-19 vaccines worth around 4.6 million euros, or around nine million got up.

For the rest of Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.

Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.

Please support independent journalism by clicking the orange button below. For as little as three euros per month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com:

Become a patron!

Maria J. Book