Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

Gulf Today, Business Bureau

As part of its group-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, on Tuesday announced a strategic collaboration between its wholly owned subsidiary, Strata Manufacturing, and Honeywell, to produce N95 respirators at Strata’s Al Ain facility.

The new N95 respirator manufacturing line, which has now commenced operations, will be the first of its kind in the GCC region, and will have an annual output capacity of over 30 million masks.

The collaboration between Strata and Honeywell aims to address the need for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), one of the most significant challenges currently facing governments and organizations globally as they work to limit the spread of COVID-19. N95 masks are respiratory protective devices that play an important role in filtering out airborne particles.

Currently, the UAE imports all N95 respirators from abroad. This manufacturing line will not only be able to meet the national requirements of the UAE’s health industry for the masks, but also transform the UAE into an exporter of this critical PPE product.

Commenting on the collaboration, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Mubadala, said: “As a responsible investor, we have been working across our global portfolio with local and international organizations to collectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis. By collaborating with our longstanding and valued partner, Honeywell, we will be able to deliver critical support to frontline healthcare workers and members of the wider community. This new manufacturing capability will help address the critical demand for N95 respirators, and bolster the resilience of UAE’s PPE supply chains.”

Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell, said: “As a global leader in advanced worker safety technologies, Honeywell is committed to ensuring that PPE products are being placed quickly and cost-effectively in the hands of those most in need, including medical professionals and those on the front lines of the fight against the spread of COVID-19. Mubadala has world-class manufacturing capabilities through its Strata subsidiary, and we are proud to extend the long standing, valued partnership between our companies to bring high quality respiratory manufacturing to the Middle East.”

Mubadala’s collaboration with Honeywell is part of its #WeAreDedicated campaign - the company’s group-wide response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its efforts to coordinate initiatives across its business platforms and assets to support communities locally and internationally.

As part of the Remote Healthcare digital platform initiative by the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi (DoH), Mubadala Healthcare, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center (ADPHC), and under the guidance of DoH, has launched last month its Remote Care Program, providing a sustainable solution to meeting the healthcare needs of patients impacted by COVID-19. The program is utilizing the recently launched DoH “Remote Care” application, in collaboration with Mubadala’ s Injazat, to ease patient access to the needed care.

Under the program, COVID-19 patients who are asymptomatic or who have only mild symptoms are monitored and cared for through teleconsultations and home care visits as required. The service is provided by Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Center (ADTC) and Amana Healthcare respectively, with a case manager assigned to coordinating each patients’ care, ensuring their safety, and arranging hospitalization if their circumstances change. Since the launch of the Remote Care Program, Mubadala Healthcare has enrolled more than 1,500 patients, and is ramping up capacity to reach 2,000+ in the coming weeks.

Dr Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, Acting Undersecretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi says: “In line with the national directive to maintain physical distancing and curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, this partnership with Mubadala Healthcare allows us to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of all members of society, and to enhance the care provided to COVID-19 patients. We will continue to work with all segments of our community and harness local expertise to find innovative solutions to bolster the national COVID-19 response.”

Dr Shereena Al Mazrouei, Department Manager Health Promotion at ADPHC says: “This initiative launched in partnership with Mubadala Healthcare is a proactive step, and part of a longer-term sustainable strategy to ensure that we have the capacity available at any given time to provide the essential care that our citizens and residents may need. It creates a beneficial situation that enables COVID-19 patients who meet rigorous home isolation criteria and are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms to be monitored and have access to a healthcare team around the clock, while recovering in the comfort of their homes.”

Senior Vice President of Mubadala Healthcare, Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, explains that the program is harnessing the expertise of the specialized facilities within Mubadala Healthcare’s network that will collaborate to ensure that all patients receive personalized treatment and the highest standards of care.