Save the Children India donates 55 oxygen concentrators to three hospitals in Hyderabad
- Supports COVID-affected disadvantaged community in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under its #ProtectAMillion mission
- The initiative pledges to tackle the devastation caused by the second wave of the pandemic and its impact on the tribal families of Mulugu district in Telangana
- Organises community-level vaccination awareness campaign in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh to drive online registrations
Save the Children handed over 55 oxygen concentrators in three hospitals (Malakpet Govt. Area Hospital- 15; Nilofer Govt. Hospital- 5 and Sarojini Devi Hospital – 10) in Hyderabad, Telangana and two hospitals (Govt. General Hospital – 15 and 2. Gudur Govt. Area Hospital -10) in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh.
The impact of the pandemic has been the hardest on displaced tribal families in the remote forests of southern India, leaving them with no source of income or access to food and essentials. Save the Children has been offering monthly support to 270 tribal families and 670 children and providing them with dry ration. As rural India battles hard against the rising cases, the organisation is geared up to offer COVID-related kits, food baskets, oxygen support, psycho-social support, livelihood support, and more to the tribal communities.
For nine-year-old Seetha, from the Gutty Koya tribal community of Mulugu district in Telangana, going to school every day was a dream. She started living this dream -when Save the Children helped her get admission to a school run by the State Education Department. The pandemic, however, brought it to a complete halt. Her family lost their livelihood, leaving them struggling for food and essentials. Seetha now hopes for the lockdown to end so that she can resume her education.
Meanwhile, following the Government of India’s announcement requesting people to register online for the COVID-19 vaccines, Save the Children took the opportunity to get the rural population of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh vaccinated. The organisation, in partnership with Nokia, has launched a digital inclusion project called 'Smartpur - Providing digital services to the rural community of Nellore’. Under this initiative, the NGO has set up digital centres with software-defined networking technology in 60 villages across the district, allowing people to register for the vaccination for free. Rolled out on April 25, 2021 with just five villages, 3,476 people were already registered for vaccination by April 6, 2021 and the count is increasing every day.
Going forward, these centres hope to educate people on Covid appropriate behaviour and offer access to government social protection schemes and other online services.
Commenting on these initiatives, Mr. Sudarshan Suchi, CEO, Save the Children India said, “The second wave of the pandemic has shown its true colours and has pushed the country to take a step back. During these gloomy times, the tribal and rural populations are the worst hit as they have lost their livelihoods post the lockdown, with no source of income within or outside their settlements.” “Through these programmes, we intend to give the tribal population of Telangana access to necessary healthcare and livelihood support and also ensure that the rural community of Andhra Pradesh gets vaccinated soon to fight this battle against COVID-19. Besides medical needs, we also believe in ensuring that the emotional and physical wellbeing of the affected children and their communities are taken care of.”
Save the Children launched the mission to #ProtectAMillion in their response to the second COVID wave. It is committed to reaching an additional 1 million (10 Lakh) children and their families in 57 districts across 14 states and two UTs, covering concerns like food & hygiene kits, oxygen concentrators, distress helplines and vaccination awareness campaigns. The initiative humbly appeals to those who are thinking about the children in India to join the mission.
