~Smile Foundation under its health cannot wait campaign is providing doorstep delivery of critical healthcare services across India~
XX May 2021, New Delhi: The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the entire country and seems to be even more devastating than the first. Fighting the new, more infectious variant of the virus, frontline health workers are working round the clock even as hospitals run out of beds and oxygen supply, and thousands succumb to preventable deaths. India has become the second-worst affected globally, with more than 24 million cases, and more than 270,000 deaths.[1]
During such an alarming situation of the pandemic in the country, Smile Foundation has come forward under its ‘Health Cannot Wait’ campaign to provide urgent necessities like PPE kits to frontline workers, strengthening the existing public health infrastructure through the supply of oxygen and medicines, reducing the load of primary healthcare facilities, providing hygiene kits to masses, and spreading awareness to contain the spread of the virus.
Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder, and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation said “While the pandemic has put to test the entire healthcare infrastructure, our main motive is to support the country, help the underprivileged get timely access to healthcare, and spread awareness to tackle vaccine hesitancy in remote areas.”
He also added, “It is important to understand the reality and educate everyone about the virus. Young people are much more affected in the second wave”
The campaign aims to look at long term investments through donations contributing towards strengthening COVID care centres with oxygen cylinders, oximeters & concentrators, providing oxygen Banks for critical patient support in vulnerable communities, mobilsing PPE Kits & N-95 Masks for frontline health workers, distributing COVID-19 Protection Kits (including masks, soaps, sanitisers, oximeters), tele-counselling for sensitization on vaccine and prevention against COVID and providing primary healthcare services to reduce the load on existing health infrastructure.
Smile Foundation has already distributed over 1.5 lakh hygiene kits to ensure that along with awareness, vulnerable families also have access to basic hygiene care, also 1 million people from 2200 vulnerable communities are being provided doorstep healthcare services and more than 2,00,000 hygiene kits have been distributed to the vulnerable population.
COVID-19 has worsened the condition of the country and now urgently country needs to improve the functioning of the health sector to ensure immediate healthcare support across the country.
About Smile Foundation:
Smile Foundation, is an NGO in India directly benefitting over 15,00,000 children and their families every year, through more than 400 live welfare projects on education for poor children, healthcare, livelihood and women empowerment, in over 2000 remote villages and slums across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families, and the community.
Media Contact:
Sreeparna Chakrabarty: [email protected]. | 9811502059
Website: http://www.smilefoundationindia.org/