Mukund Patel
Houston (Texas): Sewa International is sending an initial shipment of 400 oxygen concentrators and other emergency medical devices and supplies to India immediately and is working on procuring more from multiple suppliers around the world to ease the oxygen shortage caused by the surging numbers of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The organization has already raised USD 1 million and aiming to raise USD 5 million.
Sewa has started a ‘Help India Defeat Covid-19’ campaign to ship oxygen concentrators to Indian hospitals and is also providing food and medicines to about 10,000 families and more than 1,000 orphanages, and senior citizen centers across the country, Arun Kankani, President of Sewa International, said here.
The second wave of Covid-19 has overwhelmed India’s healthcare system and caused an acute shortage of oxygen, ventilators, and hospital beds across the country. With the number of new cases crossing 300,000 daily and a steady rise in the number of fatalities, Indian hospitals are under serious stress to accommodate new patients.
“We are getting a great response from thousands of donors and expressing a deep desire to help India overcome this crisis. We thank them for their generous and timely contribution,” he said.
“We are working closely with many organizations in the US to raise funds for this effort. The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has partnered with Sewa to fund 200 oxygen concentrators. I thank Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda, the AAPI president, and all the AAPI members for their crucial aid”.
“Naturally, in the current situation, many Americans are concerned about the safety of their extended families and friends living in India. Hundreds of volunteers from Sewa and our partnering organizations are working on the ground in India.
Right now, our top priority is to quickly acquire oxygen concentrators and ship them to India as they can save lives. We are also helping a few hospitals to extend their capacity to treat more Covid-19 patients,” Kankani said.
“Sewa is building a Digital Helpdesk to provide critical information on ambulance services, hospital bed availability, and blood and medicinal supplies to people. We need not despair as India has many resources, but we can still help people win their fight against Covid-19,” said Swadesh Katoch, Sewa’s Vice President for Disaster Recovery.
“As part of its ongoing Covid-19 relief work in the US, Sewa has partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct vaccination drives across the country. We are also distributing thousands of pounds of food in Houston and the San Francisco Bay area,” Swadesh said.
Sewa International is a 501 (c)(3) Hindu faith-based charitable nonprofit that works in the areas of disaster recovery, education, and development. Sewa has 43 chapters across the USA and serves regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin.