Hubballi: Deshpande Foundation helps district administration with medical equipment

HUBBALLI: Apart from distributing relief material, Deshpande Foundation has installed a full-fledged oxygen plant in the district.
It has also provided a mobile testing van and two ambulances to the district administration to fight Covid.
Foundation CEO Vivek Pawar told TOI that they joined hands with the district administration in 2020 to provide support through its areas of strength — technology, operations, infrastructure and human resource. “To strengthen Covid-relief work in the city, we have provided cots, beds, oximeters and dura cylinders to select hospitals and isolation centres as instructed by the administration. Deshpande Foundation Skilling Centre hostel has also been turned into a quarantine centre to accommodate 750 patients,” he added.
He further said: “Covid is under control in Hubballi-Dharwad, but not in villages. Foundation got into action under the guidance of Dharwad DC Nitesh Patil. Availability of oxygen was one of the major hurdles in the recovery of moderate-to-severe cases of Covid. We leveraged our international network and went about procuring essential supplies like oxygen concentrators from the US and donated them to the district administration.”
Vijay Mane, rural initiative coordinator, said that the Foundation and the district administration are installing a full-fledged oxygen plant at Navalgund Taluk. “We have circulated educational stuff to create Covid awareness through the health department among officers, staff, ASHA workers and community groups. This activity will be continued for the next 4-6 weeks under the campaign ‘Act now and rise for Covid’. We have also distributed over 3,600 posters to be put up at all taluk hospitals, Covid Care Centres, PHCs, Sub-Centres and villages. We have provided 8,000 medicine kits and 120 jars of sanitiser kits to six PHCs, two ambulances and a mobile testing van,” he explained.
A total of 309 ASHA workers have been provided with the set of four batteries for oximeters, six N-95 masks, two face shields and a pair of gloves. Other three taluks — Kalghatagi, Dharwad and Hubballi Rural — will be covered in the coming days. “We plan to provide 25,000 medicine kits under this initiative,” he added.