U.S. Embassy in Mongolia -- The U.S. government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization (WHO), handed over IT and medical equipment to Mongolia’s Ministry of Health’s National Center for Mental Health. The assistance, which will be distributed to psychological counseling units in nine district health centers in Ulaanbaatar, will help strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers to provide counseling and manage COVID-19-related mental health problems.

USAID Mongolia Senior Development Advisor Thomas Crehan joined partners at the National Center for Mental Health for the handover ceremony attended by Dr. G. Gankhuyag, Director, Division of Non-communicable Diseases Prevention and Control, Ministry of Health; Dr. V. Bayarmaa, Acting Director of the National Center for Mental Health; Dr. Ts. Undral, Director of the Public Health Division of the Ulaanbaatar City Health Department; and Dr. S. Bolormaa of WHO Mongolia.

“The mental health of our front-line workers plays an important role in ensuring the health of the entire population and increasing the chances of recovery of COVID-19 patients,” Mr. Crehan said. “As the country’s enduring partner and third neighbor, the United States, through USAID, is proud to support Mongolia’s journey to recovery against this global health crisis.”

This assistance is an important part of USAID’s partnership with WHO to strengthen the capacity of Mongolia’s health systems in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The partnership is providing urgent medical equipment and critical devices to health care facilities, preventing the further spread of the disease, and improving essential health delivery and COVID-19 related healthcare services.

To date, the U.S. government has provided more than 24.8 billion MNT ($8 million) to help Mongolia respond to the pandemic.