CAPE TOWN – Gift of the Givers has sent out an SOS to the public to donate oxygen concentrators to help the people of India.
According to media reports, the situation is so dire in India that some hospitals have run out of oxygen and patients are struggling to get hold of portable cylinders, sometimes standing in queues for up to 12 hours.
The organisation said about 80 oxygen concentrators had arrived at its warehouse. Gift of the Givers has urged the public to donate more of them.
Director Dr Imitiaz Sooliman said: “India has oxygen, it has companies that have oxygen but there’s a problem of distribution. They don't have enough oxygen tanks. Given the crisis and speed in which the virus has spread in India, no country in the world can have enough oxygen tanks.
“The public is welcome to donate new oxygen concentrators, in their original packaging, and provide a minimum oxygen saturation of 93%” he said.
The organisation is also partnering with organisations in India, to establish bases at several hospitals to provide free oxygen tanks or oxygen concentrators for home use on a rotational basis. Oxygen tanks will also be provided to hospitals in need.
Portable oxygen cylinders are the only way for patients in a serious condition to keep breathing at home when they can't find a hospital bed – a major issue in Delhi.
India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is the top donor lending his influence to Mission Oxygen, a Democracy People Foundation project on the Indian crowdfunding site Ketto.
Mission Oxygen has organised a few hundred people, including 40 to 50 affiliates in major Chinese cities, to buy certified oxygen concentrators abroad and get them through customs into India. The group believes it can have 3 000 to 6 000 concentrators in India by mid-May.
Discussions are under way between Gift of the Givers, the Solidarity Fund, the National Department of Health, Department of Trade and Industry, the National Ventilator Group, CSIR, and Sahpra to donate 9 000 CPAP and Save-p machines to state hospitals in India.
Gift of the Givers invites those who want to participate in assisting India to make contributions.
The bank account details:
Gift of the Givers
Standard Bank
Pietermaritzburg
Account number: 052278611
Branch Code: 057525
Ref: India.
Deposit slips can be e-mailed to: [email protected] for acknowledgement purposes.