Medical Equipment for Covid Relief, Kerala

Covid-19 continues its devastating cull of communities throughout India. Patients are dying on the street without access to medical care.  With crematoria and burial grounds overwhelmed, families struggle even to say a farewell to their loved ones.

 
The southern Indian state of Kerala boasts a well-led and well-managed medical and public-health infrastructure which put up a brave and laudable fight against the first wave.  However, Kerala too is currently buckling under the pressure of the sheer numbers of patients; hospitals are overwhelmed, facing dire shortages of medical oxygen, equipment and other supplies.

 
We, a group of medical and other professionals with roots in Kerala, have been working with healthcare teams there to identify areas of greatest need. Palakkad and Kozhikode have been identified as two districts that are particularly struggling.

 
£300 could buy an oxygen concentrator

Patients who are over the worst but are still oxygen-dependent could be treated at home. Kerala has an established network of community healthcare workers who could effectively oversee these patients’ care in their homes. This technology-enabled shift to community health services would free up hospital beds as well as hospital oxygen, enabling treatment of sicker patients. However, very few oxygen concentrators are currently available in the state to make this possible.  Local doctors also report pitiful scarcity of other life-saving equipment including oxygen flow meters, oxygen masks and non-invasive ventilation masks.

 
The Pain and Palliative Care Society, Kozhikode (registered under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, 2010), has a wealth of experience in providing community health care and coordinating disaster relief efforts. The Society has kindly agreed to receive the funds and co-ordinate procurement and distribution of equipment in Kerala. https://www.instituteofpalliativemedicine.org/ 

 
We hope you will join us in supporting grassroots COVID-19 care in Kerala and donate generously to this cause.

 

From the United Kingdom

Dr. Archana Soman

Consultant Paediatrician, NHS, Sheffield, UK

 
Dr. Abdul Nazar

Consultant in Critical Care, NHS, London

(Also advisor to critical care units in Kozhikkode and Vayanad, Kerala)

 
Mr. Manambur Suresh

Journalist, Kerala Kaumudi, London

Planet Search with MS



From the United States

Dr. Aysha Kunju MD

Internal Medicine, Consultant for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention,

Kaiser Permanente, CA, USA

 

From India

Dr. Suresh Kumar

Director, WHO Collaborating Centre

Institute of Palliative Medicine

Kozhikode, Kerala

 
Dr. Beena Kayaloor

Pathologist,

Quality Lab

Thorappalayam, Palakkad, Kerala