Today, in light of the emergency created by the coronavirus crisis, Fundación MAPFRE announced its plans to allocate 35 million euros to various international projects aiming to better protect the population against the virus, help society’s most disadvantaged groups, and help the world to get out of this crisis with the least possible impact.
• Out of this, 20 million euros will be used to purchase ventilators, and medical and personal protective equipment to help the fight against the illness in 27 countries.
• A further 5 million euros have been donated to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) to speed up COVID-19 vaccine research.
• It will dedicate 10 million euros to providing psychological support, distributing basic necessities, creating jobs, and advising self-employed workers.
• It is running a campaign to encourage micro-donations on its website and a volunteer program to provide older people with support.
Today, in light of the emergency created by the coronavirus crisis, Fundación MAPFRE announced its plans to allocate 35 million euros to various international projects aiming to better protect the population against the virus, help society’s most disadvantaged groups, and help the world to get out of this crisis with the least possible impact.
This notably involves two immediate courses of action: supporting research into COVID-19, which has been granted 5 million euros; and dedicating a second sum to testing and the acquisition of ventilators, and medical and personal protective equipment, which will be received by nursing homes, hospitals, and medical centers across 27 countries, with a focus on Latin America. The acquisition of this equipment, which is key to containing the illness and better protecting people against it, has been allocated 20 million euros.
Fundación MAPFRE has also earmarked 10 million euros to support initiatives in Spain aiming to provide psychological assistance to citizens who have lost a family member or provide company for elderly people who are alone at this time, through volunteering; to assist poorer elderly people with micro-donations; to develop and manufacture ventilators and personal protective equipment; to distribute basic necessities; and to create jobs via aid, with a particular focus on SMEs and self-employed workers.
The table below summarizes the top 12 actions and explains how they have been classified according to the budget involved and the level of urgency of implementing each project.
COMMITMENT TO RESEARCH
Fundación MAPFRE has donated a total of 5 million euros to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in a bid to speed up research into SARS-CoV-2, which caused the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus fight the illness. This aid will allow the CSIC to conduct a comprehensive study of this pandemic, to improve their understanding of the virus and its transmission mechanisms, and to facilitate not only the creation of a vaccine against it, but also a scientific basis for better protecting the population against pandemics in the future.
Fundación MAPFRE has also financed the development and manufacture of a prototype ventilator, a device, of which there is currently a shortage, that is used to help those with the most serious COVID-19 infections. This device was designed by The Open Ventilator, a team of Spanish researchers, with the support of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, and Celera, and is about to obtain clinical trial authorization from AEMPS (Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios — the Spanish agency of medicines and medical devices) to test their effectiveness and enable the subsequent production of these low-cost, non-profit ventilators.
In this regard, Fundación MAPFRE has also announced that it is providing materials to volunteers from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and E-Rescue for the manufacture of around 50,000 pieces of protective equipment, including visors and cloth face masks, which are being distributed to healthcare workers and personnel exposed to the coronavirus.
EMERGENCY MEDICAL EQUIPMENT IN 27 COUNTRIES
Fundación MAPFRE will donate a total of 20 million euros to 27 countries for the acquisition of medical equipment, personal protective equipment and ventilators, the creation of emergency medical units and field hospitals, and for carrying out PCR diagnostic tests for detecting COVID-19.
The countries that will receive the largest amounts include Spain (3,500,000 euros), Brazil (3,081,000 euros), the USA (1,911,000 euros), Mexico (1,028,000 euros), and Paraguay (851,794 euros). As well as the size of the country, the Global Health Security Index (GHS), which measures how prepared a country is for a potential pandemic, has been used as the main factor in determining the distribution of aid.
So far, Fundación MAPFRE has carried out the following actions: in Peru, in collaboration with the APESEG (Asociación Peruana de Empresas de Seguros — the Peruvian national association of insurance companies), it has purchased a total of 160 ventilators; in Brazil, and in collaboration with the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, it is installing 10 Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in a new field hospital that is being built in an area near the Pacaembu soccer stadium; and, in the Dominican Republic, in collaboration with the BHD León Financial Center, it has announced a donation to the country’s Ministry of Public Health to facilitate 28,000 free
PCR diagnostic tests for the detection of COVID-19.
Furthermore, it plans to purchase 150 ventilators (50 for Spain and 100 for Latin America), and expects to distribute a total of 100,000 FFP2 masks, 525,000 surgical masks, 3,000 pairs of safety goggles, 130,000 disposable gowns, and 750,000 pairs of nitrile gloves to nursing homes, hospitals, and social welfare companies.
STATE-OF-THE-ART SANITIZING EQUIPMENT
Fundación MAPFRE has also announced the financing of two portable sanitizing units donated to the Spanish national police. These units, valued at 15,000 euros, are based on state-of-the-art technology, designed at the University of Alcalá de Henares, which is capable of dispersing disinfectant in ultra-fine particles, the same size as the coronavirus, thus allowing a much more effective and complete disinfection than can be achieved using conventional means.
BASIC NECESSITIES AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT
The company is working to improve the situation of disadvantaged families, who have been hardest hit by the crisis, and, as such, has focused its effort on fundamentals such as food and educational support. In this regard, within the Sé Solidario program, it has approved micro-donations (up to 2,000 euros per donation), which will be received by small organizations all over Spain, such as the Mi Princesa Rett Association, the Ana Carolina Díez Mahou Foundation, the Tengo Hogar Foundation, Cáritas Diocesana and Altamar, among others, to help them purchase basic essentials such as food, and cleaning and bodily hygiene products.
Once the state of emergency has normalized, Fundación MAPFRE plans to allocate 200,000 euros to launch a solidarity campaign to grant students at risk of exclusion materials to start off the new school year.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
Fundación MAPFRE, in collaboration with Grupo Luria and the Spain’s national burial services association, will provide psychological support to people who have lost a family member due to the coronavirus. Psychologists, grief specialists from Grupo Luria, will provide support to those most affected by telephone and will monitor cases as necessary to ensure that they recover.
EMPLOYMENT AND ADVICE FOR SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS
Creating jobs and boosting employment is another priority objective of this extraordinary set of measures, which Fundación MAPFRE will carry out in 2020 through Accedemos, an employment program for self-employed workers and small enterprises. It will also implement a plan to provide immediate support for self-employed workers, in order to provide them with telephone consultations with specialists from the Asociación de Trabajadores Autónomos (ATA, the association of self-employed workers) and generate very clear infographics to offer them practical advice on how to carry out administrative procedures, apply for financial aid, ICO loans and tax deferrals, and more. For all this, Fundación MAPFRE will allocate 5,575,000 euros.
MICRO-DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEERING
Via the Sé Solidario program, Fundación MAPFRE has launched a micro-donations campaign called “Ahora a por Ellos” (Act now, for them) on www.fundacionmapfre.org with the aim of meeting the urgent needs of older people who are alone and who suffer from poor health and difficult financial conditions. To this end, the company will double the contribution to a maximum of 300,000 euros.
The distribution of the aid will be coordinated with CEOMA (Confederación Española de Organizaciones de Mayores — the Spanish confederation of older people’s organizations) and will be channeled through small associations from all over Spain and local collaborators. A key part of its volunteering program, the ‘A Friendly Voice’ project, aims to provide close, human, and emotional telephone support to elderly people who are currently suffering from loneliness and are isolated in their homes. This initiative will be carried out in collaboration with the Senda Group and thanks to the work of volunteers.
“WE ARE ALL CALLED TO ACTION”
“The fight against the coronavirus involves all sectors of society. Institutions, such as Fundación MAPFRE, are called now more than ever to take action, with solidarity measures that promote social cohesion and equal opportunities,” said Antonio Huertas, the organization’s president, who has recently been proud of the company’s social commitment and has expressed his desire for “more companies to join this effort to accompany the weakest, to help them through these difficult times, and to help the world come out of this crisis with the least possible impact.”
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Madrid, Friday, April 03, 2020. For more information, please contact Nuria del Olmo, at MAPFRE Corporate Communication. Telephone: +34 606 53 78 89. Email: ndelolm@fundacionmapfre.org
