(JNS) In response to the devastating coronavirus outbreak in India, now at the epicenter of the pandemic, IsraAID will provide urgently needed medical supplies to the beleaguered nation. According to the World Health Organization’s weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19, India has reported some 2.7 million new cases as of April 27 and more than 15,000 deaths in the last week alone. (Since the pandemic began, there have been 17 million cases and more nearly 200,000 deaths.) Hospitals, which have become full, are in dire need of oxygen. On social media, images of mass cremations have gone viral.

“As a humanitarian organization that has responded to COVID-19 in 17 countries up to now, we felt we could not just stand by,” said IsraAID CEO Yotam Polizer, whose organization will be sending medical equipment and supplies, including crucial oxygen concentrators, to health-care facilities and organizations in India. According to a news release, IsraAID will also explore technological solutions to meet gaps in COVID-19 response and care, including data management, logistical support, vaccinations and more. It will also respond to the growing mental-health crisis left in the pandemic’s wake by offering self-care programs for frontline health workers to build community resilience and “help the helpers.” Staff will work with their partners on the ground in India, including health-care organizations and civil-rights groups, and with the Israel-India Forum at Tel Aviv University. 

Noting that life in Israel returning to a pre-pandemic “normal,” said Politzer, “it is crucial to remember our shared responsibility to partner with communities facing the worst of it.”

Main Photo: The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicates the COBAS 6800 testing machine to the nation during his visit to the National Centre for Disease Control in Delhi, India, on May 14, 2020. Credit: Press Information Bureau, Government of India via Wikimedia Commons.