Dr Sooliman Imtiaz, founder of the Gift of the GIvers, has called on people to assist with donations to rebuild Paarl homes that were recently destroyed in a fire. Photograph: File Image/The South African
Gift of the Givers to assist India as COVID-19 numbers surge
The Gift of the Givers will be assisting India with vital life-saving equipment as COVID-19 infections in the country continues to rise.
Dr Sooliman Imtiaz, founder of the Gift of the GIvers, has called on people to assist with donations to rebuild Paarl homes that were recently destroyed in a fire. Photograph: File Image/The South African
Gift of the Givers, a humanitarian organisation, will be sending life-saving equipment to India to assist with COVID-19 cases in the country.
According to reports a second wave of the virus is ravaging parts of India, with 386 452 new cases reported on Thursday. There was another 3 500 deaths nationwide in India on Thursday. The total number of infections in the country has now passed 18 million.
SCRUBS AND EQUIPMENT WILL BE SENT TO INDIA
Gift of the Givers hopes to procure CPAP machines from the Department of Health, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Ventilator Group, the CSIR and the Solidarity Fund in order to send it to India as soon as possible.
On their Facebook page, they announced that steroids requested by doctors to treat COVID-19 patients in India are currently prepped and ready to be sent to healthcare facilities in need.
“The first batch of oxygen concentrators was purchased last night, in response to the alarming increase of COVID-19 cases in India. In response to the COVID-19 surge in India we have scrubs and oxygen concentrators on hand at our warehouses, awaiting shipment to the country,” said the Gift of the Givers.
OXYGEN AND DELIVERY SERVICES NEEDED
Gift of the Givers is in discussion with the Indian Government and DIRCO to intervene.
The request is very simple, “we need oxygen and oxygen delivery devices, we have everything else”. According to Gift of the Givers, oxygen provision is extremely complicated and is in reality a government to government responsibility.
“The world is watching a catastrophe unfolding in India, a COVID-19 tsunami has struck the country, the official figures is nowhere near the real tragedy, insiders affirm. The pictures, as graphic as they are, can never adequately convey the emotion, pain, suffering, and desperation. Living inside a disaster is very different from observing it from a distance.”
The organisation added that Health Care Workers and the population are on “edge, exhausted, and burnt out”.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
The public can play a role in the purchase of oxygen concentrators, which Gift of the Givers is busy procuring. But the most critical, life-saving intervention is the CPAP machines that Gift of the Givers delivered during South Africa’s second wave. Health Care Workers named it the “lifesaver”.
Gift of the Givers invites those who want to participate in assisting India to make contributions to:
Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, Account number 052137228, Branch Code 057525, REF India.
“Please send the deposit slip to donations@giftofthegivers.org for acknowledgment purposes. Oxygen concentrators will be purchased initially followed by the purchase of CPAP machines if the important policy issues around it could be resolved.”
READ: Coronavirus: Gift of the Givers launch crowdfund to support doctors on the frontline
