Oxygen For India

     As of mid-May Bloomberg reported that India has recorded “more than 300,000 daily (COVID) infections for 22 consecutive days, highlighting the country’s slide into the world’s worst health crisis. One research model is predicting deaths could almost quadruple to 1,018,879 by end-July from the current official count of 258,317. Just as some countries needed ventilators in large quantities last year, India is now desperately seeking oxygen supplies and concentrators.”

     Having seen the nightly pictures of the carnage that has become the nation of India one is compelled to ask what can I do to help?   Of the myriad concerns amid this crisis befalling India, the one constant need is for all things oxygen.  One previously little known piece of medical equipment that can add greatly to the arsenal of medical weaponry available to doctors is the oxygen concentrator.   An oxygen concentrator increases oxygen, and assists patients with low blood oxygen levels.

     An oxygen concentrator costs, on a fair-market basis, around $1,000. By western standards this may seem insignificant but in India it is about half of its per capita GDP. The cost is an additional burden for some Indians who face shrinking incomes after having lost businesses and jobs to lockdowns. A study by Pew Research Center showed an estimated 75 million people have slipped into poverty in India since the outbreak began.

     So what can we as Rotarians and as human beings do to make even a small dent in this horror that has become the COVID pandemic in India? We urge you to contribute generously to our oxygen concentrator purchase project. We have organization by local Rotarians with experience working in India.  By doing so you can be assured that the money you donate will go to where it is needed most.