The coronavirus pandemic has led to the realisation that our healthcare infrastructure is not well-equipped to deal with a disaster of this scale. The second wave has made matters worse. Frontline health workers are working round the clock to save lives. They are putting their lives at risk every day.
What we believe
We at Smile Foundation are donating relief during the Covid-19 pandemic on all possible fronts. As part of our interventions, we are trying to ensure that our frontline workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and ASHA and Anganwadi workers, have access to protective gear like PPE kits and masks.
Smile Foundation believes that it is important to protect our health workers as much as possible. After caring for patients all day, they also have families to go back to and they need to protect them as well as the patients whom they care for. They are leading India’s battle against the deadly pandemic.
Challenges for frontline health workers
By the end of May 2021, India had recorded close to 2.8 crore Covid-19 cases. Some studies estimate that the real number is much higher. One of the first challenges that India faced when the crisis hit was the shortage of PPE kits. India was not manufacturing enough and also exporting a significant amount of PPE kits.
On account of many people buying and hoarding various essential goods, there had been a shortage of N95 masks as well.
By the time the second wave hit in March 2021, the production of PPE kits and N95 masks in India has gone up considerably. However, many frontline workers still do not have access to proper protective gear. There may be various reasons for this, such as, shortage of funds, problems in transporting supplies, a lax attitude towards health and safety by the administration of medical facilities, and so on.
Our interventions
So far, we have provided over 80,000 protective gear to frontline health workers. Our aim is to provide at least 1 million sets of protective gear to frontline health workers. The cost of each set is Rs 12,000. It includes PPE kits, N95 masks, and sanitiser for one healthcare worker for 30 days.
Do your part!
We have been working tirelessly to work as a Covid-19 response fund. In the past year, we have amped up our efforts to help the healthcare infrastructure workers and helpers in useful ways. But all our efforts have a crucial backbone – YOU. You can also become a Covid-19 warrior and donate now! Join our Health Cannot Wait campaign to make a difference today.
