In India, a second wave of coronavirus is having a devastating impact. India’s health system is struggling to cope, hospitals are overrun and oxygen supplies are falling short of demand.
Charities that are part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) are responding by providing medical supplies, treatment facilities and logistics support to overwhelmed health services.
As India struggles to cope with coronavirus, DEC charities are working to reduce the impact of the escalating health and humanitarian crisis there.
‘WE ARE LIVING INSIDE A HUMANITARIAN DISASTER’
Across the country people are ‘united in fearful expectation’ according to Oxfam India’s Chief Executive Amitabh Behar.
Prices of medicines and oxygen have sky-rocketed, and hospitals and health centres are begging for equipment and treatment.
Behar said: ‘People are literally dying on the streets or in car parks or in their homes. There is no one in India who doesn’t know of friends or family or colleagues who have not had Covid. We are a country that is united in fearful expectation. This is a situation so bad; in my memory it is almost beyond my conception.
‘We are living inside a humanitarian disaster now that is everywhere, in our cities and in our villages. India needs the world’s help now.’
THE CHARITY RESPONSE
DEC member charities are preparing to scale their response in India once additional funding becomes available. DEC member charities will be:
- Supporting India’s health system by providing ventilators and oxygen concentrators to the Indian government; setting up temporary hospitals / care facilities; and assisting with logistical support.
- Scaling up preventive measures to slow the spread of Covid-19 amongst the most vulnerable communities by installing additional hand-washing points and distributing hygiene kits.
- Providing additional support to the poorest and most vulnerable households by distributing food and care packs to people in isolation; providing cash and vouchers; community outreach to older, isolated people – including helping with transportation to treatment and/or testing and assistance with vaccination costs; and mental health support. They are also running helplines to tackle misinformation by providing up-to-date information on the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and Covid vaccines.
Find out how you can help by visiting the DEC website. Please visit www.dec.org.uk or call 0370 60 60 900.