Health workers and doctors in hospitals across the country have lamented the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPEs), which are needed for treating patients suffering from COVID-19. Healthcare workers at the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 face the most amount of risk of contracting the virus.
In view of the current shortage, a fundraiser has been set up to provide PPEs to around 40 hospitals across India. This campaign has been started by The Pravin Agarwal Foundation (TPAF), in association with Doctors For You. The two organisations have collaborated with 130 prominent hospitals across India to fundraise for over 2,50,000 PPE kits on the online crowdfunding platform Ketto.
“Over the years, both TPAF and Doctors For You have worked closely with hospitals, doctors, and medical professionals and have leveraged the experience thus gained to realise that our frontline health workers do not have sufficient PPE kits,” the campaign says.
As part of the campaign, the foundation has stated that it will be matching 20% of each donation to this campaign. For example, if a donation of Rs 10,000 is made, TPAF will be adding an extra Rs 2,000, so that the original donation will have 1.2 times the impact, the foundation has said. Donations to this campaign will also be tax-exempt under Section 80G (Section 80G of the Income Tax Act allows tax deduction on donations made to any charitable organisation).
One of the campaigns on the website seeks 1,500 PPE kits for Al Falah Hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Faridabad to ensure the safety of its frontline health workers. One kit costs around Rs 1,500 and will include one coverall bodysuit, one PC 3-PLY surgical mask, one pair of shoe covers, one pair of goggles and one pair of nitrile gloves.
Another campaign hopes to provide 1,500 PPE kits to the Institute of Maternal And Child Health Govt Medical College in Kerala to ensure the safety of their frontline health workers. In Karnataka, Chirayu Hospital in Kalaburagi requires 100 PPE kits for their healthcare workers.
Click on PPE for medics to help contribute to this cause. You can choose from a list of hospitals that need your help.
The Pravin Agarwal Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Mumbai which primarily aims to provide financial help and hopes to enable affordable paediatric transplant in India.
India has been facing a severe shortage of PPEs and testing kits in view of rising cases of the coronavirus. As of Friday, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 was 13,387 while the death rose to 437, according to the Health Ministry.
On Tuesday, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri had told reporters in Beijing that India has placed orders to procure 15 million personal protection gear from China for medical personnel treating COVID-19 patients.