Dear Friends,

I am reaching out to you with an urgent appeal on behalf of Himalayan COVID-19 Task Force (HC19TF) and Tibetan Allopathic Physicians Network (TAPN). We are a volunteer group of health care providers from US, Canada, Europe, and Japan who have come together to respond to the devastations of COVID-19 in India and Nepal. We hope you will help us reach our goal of raising $62,000 to purchase and make available equipment and resources that will make a difference between life and death for many Tibetans living in Tibetan settlements in India (at least 85,000) and Nepal (at least 20,000).

Please consider your support for the initiatives below:

EQUIPMENT (Goal: $40,000): Every day, numbers of hospitalizations or deaths due to COVID-19 among Tibetans in India and Nepal are increasing.  Clinics, hospitals, and health centers in the 37 refugee settlements in India and Nepal are frighteningly short of lifesaving supplies. They are in urgent need for oxygen tanks and concentrators, pulse oximeters, medications, and funds to transport critically ill patients and to pay for their admission into hospitals and intensive care.  While some of this equipment, such as oxygen concentrators are generally expensive, costs of all medical supplies has skyrocketed given the current crisis and shortages. 

In Nepal, the Task Force will provide pulse oximeters (US$25-35 each) and oxygen concentrators (US$1,500-2,000 each) to distribute to Tibetan COVID centers in Nepal.  The equipment distribution is coordinated in partnership with the free COVID-19 Hotline team, Tibetan settlement coalition group, nonprofits, youth groups, and community organizers all recommended by trusted sources in Nepal. 

FREE 24/7 COVID-19 HOTLINE (Goal: $22,000): Tibetan health care providers are stretched to their limits tending to critically ill patients in the clinics. Patients with mild to moderate symptoms require monitoring of vital signs and oxygen levels while at home. However, without  access to medical advice, caretakers of COVID-19 patients, are seeing their loved one’s condition suddenly deteriorate from moderate to critical within hours.  For this reason, the Task Force is coordinating a free bilingual cross-continent tele-medicine hotline service in partnership with TAPN, Sahayeta.org, Sano Paila, and ASK Foundation, for COVID-19 patients in India and Nepal, with Tibetan and Nepali health care providers in Nepal, India, and North America. This service will assure that patients who do not need hospitalization will be monitored by a health care provider. The Task Force is raising funds to hire Tibetan-speaking case managers (US$300/mo) and independent physicians (US$1,500/mo) for 3-6 months in India and Nepal.

We realize that many of you may know of a COVID-19 patient or of someone who lost a loved one to COVID-19 recently. We are so sorry for your loss. We hope you will join us in supporting Tibetans who are fighting for their lives. Your gift could make the difference between life and death.

Please make your tax-deductible donation through our nonprofit partner, The Tibet Fund in New York. 

Thank you, in advance, for helping us get closer to our goal of $62,000! 

With gratitude, 

Dechen Tsering, MPH
Co-founder
Himalayan COVID-19 Task Force Team
Berkeley, CA

More information about Tibet Fund: The Tibet Fund’s mission is to preserve the distinct cultural and national identity of the Tibetan people. Since 1981, primary funding organization for health care, education, refugee rehabilitation, religious and cultural preservation, elder care, community and economic development, serving hundreds of thousands of Tibetan refugees living in India and Nepal.