I met Jonathan Reisman in India nearly a decade ago. He is a physician who founded World Health and Education Network (WHEN). They are seeking funding to help in the COVID health crisis in India.
India is experiencing a devastating Covid-19 surge right now, with healthcare systems throughout the country strained and buckling. Help raise funds which will be used to purchase medical equipment like oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, pulse oximeters, PPE, and more. Through the World Health and Education Network (WHEN) and several other organizations, equipment will be shipped from the US as well as from China over land. These supplies will be distributed throughout India to organizations, charities, and hospitals who are running low.
To procure and deliver life saving equipment and other community help in response to the ongoing Covid 19 crises, we seek your support in this moment of crisis. Since time is of the essence, please donate generously and help us reach this target by May 9, 2021. Organized by Aliva De, Sourav Sen, Jonathan Reisman, Jonathan Stypula and friends.
DONATE AT GOFUNDME
From the funds raised from this campaign, Pulse oximeters, PPE, Thermometers, Oxygen Concentrators and much more will be provided to local medical organizations and NGOs providing medical care in India. Additional plans include arranging for food and medicine distribution to the needy as well as the isolated senior citizens of India. A major goal is to provide pulse oximeters to as many organizations as possible.
World Health and Education Network (WHEN) is a registered 501 (c) (3) not for profit organization based in the US. The raised funds will provide immediate COVID relief supplies to the grounds.
Calcutta Rescue is one of WHEN’s primary supported projects. In response to the devastating effects of the COVID crisis and its particular impacts on smaller healthcare enterprises in India, WHEN will also be providing COVID relief to small local healthcare organizations across India in all the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai.
Our immediate COVID specific work is as follows:
- Dealing with people exhibiting COVID symptoms
- CR, with help of its UK doctors have drafted a clear COVID protocol.
- CR has nine doctors, three of which are dedicated to dealing with people with symptoms.
- CR has community healthcare workers (CHWs), similar to government ASHA workers, who live in the slums and have been trained by CR. Equipped with thermal guns and pulse oximeters, they will move around their communities identifying people exhibiting symptoms.
- For any people with symptoms, they will be referred to our doctors who will consult with them either through phone or physically at one of our OPD clinics. For mild to moderate symptoms, our doctors will give advice and prescribe medication – dexamethasone and budesonide – to be taken at home.
- Continous monitoring will be done remotely. If symptoms worsen and O2 levels fall, CR will activate its Quick Response Team who will try to ensure hospitalisation as quickly as possible.
- However, while hospitalisation is likely to be delayed because of a lack of beds, CR will consider sending an oxygen cylinder to the person’s home.
- Vaccinations
- Health education on the importance of vaccination
- Incentivise beneficiaries to get vaccinated with nutrition packets and reimbursement of costs
- Tie-up with local vaccination centres where CR will facilitate the vaccination of our beneficiaires, street and slum dwellers
- Currently investigating the possibility of CR becoming a vaccination centre.
- Other Healthcare Services
- With the healthcare system overrun, CR is continuing to provide its high quality primary healthcare services
- While we have been doing home deliveries of medicines over the duration of the pandemic to a few of our most vulnerable patients, we have now decided to increase that activity. Logistically, it is complex as our patients suffering from cancer, HIV, leprosy, diabetes,TB, heart & kidney disease are located across 8 different districts of Bengal spanning hundreds of kilometres – north to south and east to west. We are now drafting the delivery schedule, and its execution will start from around May 7th. This is also necessary as the government has just announced restrictions of movement which is going to make it more difficult for our patients to travel to our clinics to collect their life-saving medication.
- CR’s OPD clincis remain open to the poorest of the poor residing in Kolkata and surrounding districts. They will be assessed either physically at one of our fixed clinics or through tele-consultation with any one of our nine doctors
- Nutrition
- For the most vulnerable – the very sick, the elderly, pregnant mothers and our students (in the absence of midday meals), CR will continue to provide and if needed, deliver, nutrition to the doorstep. With current government restrictions, economic activity will be curtailed, incomes will again reduce and food insecurity will increase.
- Education of street and slum children
- The new double or triple mutant variant is having a bigger impact on children and young people. So four weeks ago, we suspended our hugely successful Education on Wheels project and we have closed our two schools again. This is a bitter blow to our oldest two year groups who were allowed to restart school in December, but the risks of transmission are just too great.
- For the foreseeable future all teaching will be done online and over the phone. At least, thanks to many donors’ support last year, all of our students now have internet access.
- The work of our Covid Warriors – senior CR students who for months have been running awareness sessions in their communities about the need to wear masks, wash hands and get vaccinated, is also having a positive impact.
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