LONDON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The British Government announced Sunday it was giving support worth 7 million pounds (8.66 million U.S. dollars) to medical teams in Syria following this week's chemical attack on Idlib.
Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced the additional funding to ensure health workers in Syria can deliver healthcare and essential medicines across the country, enabling them to prepare for medical emergencies.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development said the allocation builds on existing British support to the World Health Organization, which has enabled it to pre-position supplies and train medics in anticipation of an attack of this kind.
"As a result, WHO was able to rapidly deliver medicines including Atropine (an antidote for some types of chemical exposure) and steroids for treatment, ship in additional medicines, and provide immediate support to medics," said the department spokesman.
Patel said it is vital that the international community continues to support the Syrian people and Britain led calls at the Brussels Conference on Syria this week for donors to step up assistance to the most vulnerable people. As a result, 6 billion U.S. dollars in international funding was committed for the coming year.
The new 7 million pounds of funding from Britain builds on 10.7 million pounds provided last year by Britain to the World Health Organization for its support work in Syria. (1 British pound=1.24 U.S. dollars)