Coronavirus: Brazil looks to build its own ventilators as China orders fall through
- Brazil turns to local companies as competitive global market limits medical supplies
- It is the country hardest hit by the pandemic in Latin America, and is bracing for potential devastation if big outbreaks erupt
Brazil’s health minister said on Wednesday that the country’s attempts to purchase thousands of ventilators from China to fight a growing coronavirus epidemic had fallen through and the government is now looking to Brazilian companies to build the devices.
“Practically all our purchases of equipment in China are not being confirmed,” Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said at a news conference.
An attempt to buy 15,000 ventilators in China did not go through and Brazil was making a new bid, he said, but the outcome is uncertain in the intense competition for medical supplies in the global pandemic.
Last week, Mandetta referred to being outbid for Chinese supplies and on Tuesday he noted “difficulties” in guaranteeing purchases.
That came as the Chinese embassy in Brazil denounced comments this week by Brazil’s Education Minister Abraham Weintraub, who accused Chinese medical equipment makers of profiteering from the coronavirus pandemic.
