As the Jamaican economy reopens for business, NovaMed, a locally based medical resource supplier, is donating half-a-million medical grade face masks valued at approximately $60 million to protect the Jamaican and Caribbean workforce from COVID-19.

The start-up firm founded by Dr David Walcott and entrepreneur, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton, recently solidified its impact in the medical mask production business with the purchase of a mask production line in China.

The first shipment from that line is expected to arrive on the island later this month.

Dr Walcott, an Oxford-trained immunologist and entrepreneur with experience appraising health sectors in over 50 countries, disclosed that the donated masks would be distributed locally to members of the public, civil institutions and select front line personnel directly and via the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS).

FINANCIALLY VULNERABLE GROUPS TARGETED

He pointed out that NovaMed is targeting its efforts on financially vulnerable workers who need masks to earn a living safely. Arguing that most Jamaicans live hand to mouth as that not everyone can afford a mask, Dr Walcott asserted that the people who desperately need to get back to work may have to choose between purchasing a mask and keeping food on the table.

“This workforce is the backbone of our nation, and no Jamaican should have to decide between disease and starvation,” he emphasised, pointing out that, “as Jamaica gets back to business, population contact severely increases the risk of spread of COVID-19”.

NovaMed has already been building partnerships to support the donation with support coming from organisations, including The American Friends of Jamaica Inc and the Kingston Hub of the Global Shapers Community.

Caribbean donation

A portion of the masks will also be shared with other Caribbean islands who have been hard hit by COVID-19. Hamilton made the point that while NovaMed is donating 500,000 masks for Jamaica, it has also secured 100,000 to be shared across the Caribbean.

“As the donation is meant to have an impact across the region, 100,000 masks will be split across several at-risk territories,” Hamilton noted, describing the initiative as the largest private donation of masks to Jamaica.

Hamilton made the point that NovaMed was founded to be a resource for the Caribbean health care ecosystem, leverage global partnerships, and cutting-edge technologies to solve critical medical challenges.

“NovaMed’s donation is meant to temporarily cushion local supply of masks from insecure global supply chains, as the Government encounters preferential treatment for larger nations, as well as shipping delays and shortages caused by hoarding and market manipulation,” Hamilton said.

“We hope that we can temporarily ease some of the Government’s public burden for mask provision, allowing them to re-divert to front line health workers and elsewhere,” Walcott stated.

Speaking to the global procurement crisis, Hamilton contends that “mega corporations are willing to pay triple the market price of masks to outbid their competitors. Within this context, less wealthy countries like Jamaica and its Caribbean neighbours are not in a position to compete in the mad scramble for testing materials and face masks.”

According to Hamilton, the NovaMed team has been working closely with partners to provide global support through partnerships with the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the World Economic Forum.