COVID-19 | IIT alumni launch philanthropic initiative to raise funds for medical infrastructure

A patient suffering from the coronavirus infection receives treatment inside the emergency ward at Holy Family hospital in New Delhi. (Image: Reuters)

India is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 second wave and the nation’s healthcare infrastructure has stretched to the limit. Hospitals across the country are facing a shortage of beds, medical oxygen and other life-saving supplies as COVID-19 cases continue to surge on a daily basis. Various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are already working round the clock along with the central and state government agencies, to save the lives of people battling the disease.

Most hospitals in the country are already working at full capacity. Against this backdrop, a group of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) alumni has launched a philanthropic initiative to raise funds to improve the country’s medical infrastructure and medical oxygen availability.

They started the ‘Help Indian Hospitals’ initiative on April 24, 2021, on milaap.org, a crowd-funding platform. The initiative is also supported by civil servants.

At present, the highest demand is for oxygen and oxygen-generating devices like oxygen concentrators. The alumni groups have come together to provide critical medical equipment like oxygen concentrators, cylinders, BiPAP, CPAP, para monitor machines and other support supplies to government hospitals so that they are equipped to handle the deluge of patients.

A member of this mission told Moneycontrol: “We aim to urgently provide critical medical equipment to government hospitals. The mission started as a fundraising activity within the batch to help a government hospital in Delhi where an IAS colleague of one of us was posted as its in-charge. Nikhil Saurabh from the team floated the idea of a fundraiser to help other hospitals as well. This has now turned into a big initiative with overwhelming support from the community."

IIT alumni have also partnered with NGOs such as Universal Health Foundation New Delhi and Bhoomika Trust from Chennai for the initiative.

They aim to help 100 hospitals in the most distressed areas of India by raising Rs 7.5 crore ($1 million) in the next ten days by supplying 400 oxygen concentrators, 200 mini-ventilators /BIPAP machines, 800 oxygen cylinders and other essential equipment.

How do they do it?

The IIT Kanpur alumni who are serving civil servants contact district administrators, most of whom are batchmates or colleagues, and ask them to fill a Google form containing the details of existing infrastructure and additional requirements of the government hospitals in their district. A telephonic verification is also made with the district administrator to verify the demand so that the genuineness and urgency of the demand are established.

Based on the mortality rates and case positivity rates, the districts are prioritised and a decision for allotment of equipment is made. Equipment is purchased from vendors by making payment and the equipment procured is provided to the hospital.

"While we keep focusing on the COVID hotspots, we also make sure that the remote areas of India are also taken care of in getting the required help," added another member of the initiative.

“Milaap fundraiser started on April 24 and in a week’s time, we have raised Rs 1 crore. So far we have raised more than Rs 3 crore out of which we are able to deploy 90 percent of money. From the funds received, we have been fortunate to be able to assist more than 60 hospitals across 15 states within 15 days from the start of our initiative. We have procured 154 oxygen concentrators, 70 oxygen cylinders, 173 respiratory care machines (BIPAPs), 11 CPAPs, 39 vital sign monitors (ECG etc), 6 fowler beds, 64 wheelchairs and 57 stretchers). As much as 75 percent of this equipment has reached its final destinations, saving at least hundreds of lives.

About 50 percent of the locations to which medical infrastructure has been provided are in remote areas. These include places such as Koderma, Lakisarai, Burhanpur, Deoria, Bijnor, Cooch Behar in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

IIT students settled in Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Australia are leading this mission in India.