Philip Morris donates face masks to Social Security

Published Friday, April 17, 2020

Philip Morris donates face
masks to Social Security

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Swiss-domiciled Philip Morris International Inc. delivered the first part of their donation of 40,000 N95 mask respirators to Social Security on Thursday.

An N95 mask or N95 respirator is a particulate-filtering face piece respirator that meets the standard of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health air filtration rating, meaning that it filters at least 95% of airborne particles.

According to the National Institute, it is the most common particulate-filtering face piece respirator which protects against particulates, but not gases or vapors.

Philip Morris International Inc. is well known as a multinational cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company by its best selling product of the company, Marlboro cigarettes.

"This is undoubtedly an unprecedented global situation that requires the articulation of the efforts of all the actors in society and only with the collaboration of all and the effort of all can we succeed," said Susanna Vázquez, director of external affairs for Philip Morris International for Central America.

This is the third donation of medical supplies to the government by an international company this week.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health received the donation of 1,000 plastic reusable face-shields from the company Establishment Labs.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the face-shields will be distributed to the employees of the ministry and the National Psychiatric Hospital, in order to safer support the work carried out during the covid-19 pandemic.

The face-shields were designed in partnership with the Bionic Foundation and manufactured by a brigade of volunteers from the Establishment Labs company, said the ministry. Face shields are made of high-caliber clear PVC and are reusable after being cleaned with soap and water, chlorine, or alcohol.

"Our work has always been supported by the purpose of promoting the health and well-being of our patients and for this reason, we consider it fundamental to be able to contribute, as a corporate citizen, to the emergency facing the country due to covid'19," said Juan José Chacón, CEO of Establishment Labs, a company that manufactures silicone gel-filled breast implants.

On Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with the support of the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) donated 1,300 high-resistance N95 surgical masks to the Ministry of Health.

"In the framework of the covid-19 emergency, IOM follows the attention of the health emergency, supporting the request of the General Directorate of Health, to donate surgical masks that are essential inputs in the pandemic mitigation process," said Roeland de Wilde, representative of the organization in Costa Rica.

According to IOM, the joint donation of both organizations is to provide support to government institutions, providing care to Costa Ricans and immigrants who require medical services in the face of the national emergency. "For this reason, these surgical masks are provided to the Ministry to reinforce medical centers."

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What other international company should donate medical supplies to the country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com