Worldwide
Within days of the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency on 30 January 2020, the MSC Foundation had mobilised the resources of the MSC Group to bring prompt support where most urgently needed — first in China and then to national and local initiatives across every continent as the pandemic spread worldwide.
The MSC Foundation and MSC Group have taken swift action since the beginning of the pandemic to provide prompt support worldwide to combat COVID-19 and help mitigate its impact on disadvantaged groups such as refugees, forced displaced people, the elderly, children and unemployed heads of households. Our efforts will continue for as long as the pandemic is a threat.
The MSC Foundation and MSC Group moved swiftly to support China's intensive commitment to combating the COVID-19 outbreak. Liaising directly with Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng to identify the most effective response, we arranged the immediate supply of 100,000 medical masks as a first-wave initiative. The entire action took less than ten days from start to finish, making it one of the earliest concrete acts of solidarity from outside China and the first by any shipping company. Arriving mid-February, each of the boxes featured the message of hope and solidarity - 同舟共济，共盼春回 or Joining hands in expectation of China’s speedy recovery.
As the pandemic spread, MSC Foundation provided equally prompt support for local and national initiatives in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Brazil, Guinea and across every continent, helping to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on disadvantaged groups such as refugees, forced displaced people, the elderly, children and unemployed heads of households.
To date, the MSC Foundation has provided a total of 136,000 medical masks with a value of €165,000 and 50,600 kg of foodstuffs with a value of €241,000, including 5,000 Easter gifts to hospital patients.
We donated 2 storage containers for relief goods in Costa Rica and loaned 10 containers free of charge for one month in Panama for the storage of relief supplies and provision of health information services.
We provided cash assistance for vulnerable families in Madagascar to support workers’ families affected by the covid-19 pandemic – mainly unemployed people.
Most recently, we made a food donation in The Bahamas to an Urban Renewal Centre.
In the coming months, we will provide free shipping to Mercy Ships of medical equipment for the Ministries of Health in Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
Our efforts to help nations and communities combat COVID-19 and its effects will continue for as long as the pandemic is a threat.
Challenges
Combating the COVID-19 pandemic requires immense resources
Scale of problem results in demand-supply discrepancies in immediate medical necessities and lack of storage
The pandemic has disrupted the supply of essential goods and services, particularly to the most vulnerable
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