The government of India has provided a consignment of urgently required BCG vaccine dosages to the Maldives.

Following an urgent appeal by the Maldivian government, the neighboring country provided the 2,400 vials of 10 doses each, which arrived in the Maldives on Thursday.

The consignment was airlifted to the island nation from Mumbai with the collaborative efforts from government agencies of India, as well as the Ministry of Health, the Honorary Consul of Maldives in Mumbai and the High Commission of Maldives in Delhi.

Taking to Twitter after the consignment was received, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid expressed gratitude to the neighboring country “for always being among the first responders” and praised the efforts of the Maldives High Commission team in India as well as the Honorary Consul in Mumbai.

The government of Maldives expressed appreciation and gratitude to the government and people of the neighboring country as well as the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi for the timely assistance provided at a time of urgency.

Following the discovery of a measles outbreak in the island nation in January 2020, the neighboring nation stepped forth in assistance by donating 30,000 vaccination dosages for Measles and Rubella (MR)

India has also been among the many nations generously providing immense assistance to the Maldives, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, the neighboring nation helped evacuate Maldivians stranded in Wuhan City of China’s Hubei Province, where the pandemic broke out and even sent a team of medical experts to the island nation. India has also been providing essential supplies and medicines, as well as paving way for Maldivian patients to travel to the country for advanced medical care, despite the country’s borders being closed.

India also provided budgetary support funds totaling USD 250 million in September 2020, in order to support the government’s efforts to mitigate the economic impacts of Covid-19. This was the largest single-donor assistance Maldives has received, since the pandemic surfaced.