The Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies (Fenin), the logistics operator Grupo Oesía and Iberia have announced the creation of a Flyway Healthcare with China, coordinated through a logistics centre.
According to Fenin, this initiative, which will be supported by Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Finance and Industry, Trade and Tourism, has as its main objective to contribute the relief and increase the supply to Spain of the medical products needed to avoid the spread of COVID-19, make more diagnoses of the disease and treat patients.
The alliance explains that each of these four Spanish ministries “has helped to carry out and facilitate the complex procedures required for large-scale operations, especially in the current international health crisis”. In addition, they add, “the main lines of action of the initiative cover the entire process, from supply in the production centers in China to distribution in Spain, including transport”.
The organization will be able to coordinate requests for material to be purchased or obtain donations in China; import the material and health technology; “keep the air routes active to carry out transport to Spain with the frequency that is operationally viable each week”; and carry out the distribution.
The flyway is open to requests for materials from public administrations and companies that require them. Its coordination centre can be contacted by e-mail at corredorsanitario@oesia.com.
Oesia group will be responsible for the management of the logistics and coordination centre, for which it has created a specific coordination centre operated from its offices in Madrid and Valdepeñas that will include the relations with the different health services.
The capacity and knowledge of the health technology sector will be provided by Fenin as well as its relationship with all the health authorities.
The aircraft and crews have been put at the service of the project by Iberia. These are passenger aircraft that are currently not commercially operational and are authorized to move freight. This opens up more routes that will progressively mitigate the collapse of freight transport.
During the first three flights, Iberia’s planes were responsible for bringing 90 tons of material to Spain, including respirators, diagnostic equipment, masks, gowns, gloves, goggles and protective screens, hospital bed headrests and machinery to manufacture masks and the corresponding raw material.
This initiative joins those being carried out by the various administrations to purchase and bring medical material to Spain; and that of Airbus, which brought from its headquarters in Toulouse an A400M full of material.
On the other hand, the Novartis Spain Group has donated masks and COVID-19 approved detection tests for the Health System, for a value of almost €1 million. This protection material will be administered by the National Institute of Health Management, belonging to the Ministry of Health, for distribution to the autonomous communities with the greatest needs at this time.
At the same time, a Chinese company has also donated respirators to the Air Health Flyway destined for the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital, located in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid).
The only purpose of the three promoters of the Air Health Flyway is to join efforts and contribute to fight effectively, and humanitarian spirit, the COVID-19, explained in a press release.
Fuentes: Flynews, eldiario.es
