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In the midst of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, today, more than ever, medical de-
vices are indispensable to save lives.  Furthermore, clinical engineers, healthcare technology 

managers and biomedical engineering technicians are important in the resourcing, equipping and 
sustainment of medical devices supporting life sustaining treatments.   

The WHO has published a wide range of Covid-19 information and resources which are consolidated 
in the technical guidance page https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/
technical-guidance. 

The Priority Medical Devices for COVID-19,  as well as the respective catalogue and technical 
specifications  and  a surge calculator to assist in planning for care provisions including the priority 
medical devices for Covid-19 which can be found at https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/
novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/covid-19-critical-items.  

As we continue to learn more and our global understanding of the virology of covid-19 continues 
to evolve, In Vitro Diagnostics and medical equipment facilitating laboratory testing will be essential 
to identifying cases, taking proactive measures and reducing the impact of the disease until further 
measures can be achieved. 

The WHO has created an emergency use listing that is updated each week to expand capability which 
can be found at https://www.who.int/diagnostics_laboratory/EUL/en/.  Additionally, the WHO is 
leading an effort to facilitate a functioning global supply chain during the pandemic via a public-private 
collaboration. Further information can be found at https://www.weforum.org/projects/pandemic-sup-
ply-chain-network-pscn regarding this effort. 

The International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineers’ Clinical Engineering Division 
(IFMBE-CED) has also worked to consolidate Covid-19 guidance from clinical engineers and health-
care technology management professionals globally via their Covid-19 Resource Center that can be 
found at https://ced.ifmbe.org/blog/covid19-resources.html. Additionally, I was honored to work with 
healthcare technology management professionals globally and partake in the Global CE Covid-19 Day 
hosted by IFMBE-CED on April 9, 2020.  

The link to the recording of the presentation can be found at https://youtu.be/oVi4XFcJLBE. I will 
continue to provide additional information regarding Covid-19 in the WHO Medical Devices Newsletter 
and blogs for IFMBE-CED which can be found at https://ced.ifmbe.org/blog.html.  

WHO Update Column
By Adriana Velazquez Berumen

http://www.globalce.org
http://www.globalce.org
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/covid
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/covid
https://www.who.int/diagnostics_laboratory/EUL/en
https://www.weforum.org/projects/pandemic
https://ced.ifmbe.org/blog/covid19-resources.html
https://youtu.be/oVi4XFcJLBE
https://ced.ifmbe.org/blog.html


J Global Clinical Engineering, Special Issue 3, 2020  6

Thank you for all you are doing on the front line to implement, innovate and maintain medical devices 
and technology during this dynamic time. The world, more than ever, needs clinical engineer’s technical 
knowledge, entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, know-how and empathy to ensure the wellbeing of 
patients around the globe.

 Please stay safe, remember your PPE and wash your hands!

Regards,

Adriana Velazquez

Copyright © 2021. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY): Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International 
- CC BY 4.0. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original 
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

http://www.globalce.org
http://www.globalce.org

