NGOs face shortage of funds for causes other than COVID-19

In FY21 so far, funding for non-government organisations (NGOs) has lowered 43 percent from FY20

Moneycontrol News

July 12, 2020 / 13:54 IST

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Non-government organisations (NGOs) are struggling to raise funds for causes other than COVID-19 as individuals and companies donate more towards relief measures.

In FY21 so far, funding for non-government organisations (NGOs) has lowered 43 percent from FY20, according to a report by The Economic Times.

During the same period in FY21, funding not directed towards a specific initiative has plunged 63 percent, the report said.

The change in the funding pattern has hurt NGOs' long-term projects by causing a shortage of capital, The Economic Times reported.

"We could not do a single cataract surgery for senior citizens from the end of March to June as no one was donating towards this cause. The elderly are at risk. If we don’t provide medical intervention, they may die of other diseases, not COVID-19," Mathew Cherian, who was CEO of HelpAge India till June-end, told the paper.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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