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Business News/ News / India/  UK to send ventilators and other devices to help India manage Covid-19 crisis
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UK to send ventilators and other devices to help India manage Covid-19 crisis

London will ship more than 600 pieces of equipment to New Delhi to support its fight against the virus, following a request from India

Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that the UK would do ‘all it can’ to help India. (REUTERS)Premium
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that the UK would do ‘all it can’ to help India. (REUTERS)

The UK is sending ventilators and oxygen concentrator devices to India to help the country manage the covid-19 pandemic that has gripped the country and put immense pressure on its health services.

A press statement from the British high Commision in New Delhi said the UK was desptaching “more than 600 pieces of vital medical equipment" to “ support the country in its fight against Covid-19."

“The assistance package, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, includes ventilators and oxygen concentrators from surplus stocks. It will be used by the Government of India to provide vital medical treatment to those suffering from Covid-19 in India," the statement said.

The Department of Health and Social Care have worked closely with the UK’s National Health Services as well as suppliers and manufacturers in the UK to identify reserve life-saving equipment that can be sent to India, it said.

This follows India urgently seeking oxygen generation units and other life saving pieces of equipment following a ferocious surge in covid cases across the country especially the Indian capital New Delhi.

“Following discussions with the Government of India, the first shipment of equipment will leave the UK today, arriving in New Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Further shipments are due to follow later this week," the statement said.

“In total, nine airline container loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country this week. This equipment will be crucial in helping to save the lives of the most vulnerable in India. The oxygen concentrators, for example, can extract oxygen from the air in the atmosphere so that it can be provided to patients, taking the strain off hospital oxygen systems and allowing oxygen to be provided in situations where hospital oxygen supplies have run out," it said.

“We stand side by side with India as a friend and partner during what is a deeply concerning time in the fight against Covid-19," British prime minister Boris Johnson was quoted as saying by the statement.

“Vital medical equipment, including hundreds of oxygen concentrators and ventilators, is now on its way from the UK to India to support efforts to prevent the tragic loss of life from this terrible virus," he said.

“We will continue to work closely with the Indian government during this difficult time and I’m determined to make sure that the UK does everything it can to support the international community in the global fight against the pandemic," he added.

In his remarks Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “We are supporting our Indian friends with vital medical equipment at a difficult time for them in this pandemic."

“We will be following up on this first delivery with further support, based on our ongoing discussions with the Indian Government," he said.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has said: “We are determined to support the people of India through this very difficult time, and I am hugely grateful to those who have worked hard to make this initial delivery happen.

“This first delivery of life saving equipment will provide much needed assistance and we stand ready to do more. The global pandemic has challenged health systems all across the world and the best way to overcome adversity is to unite and defeat this dreadful disease together," he added.

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Published: 25 Apr 2021, 08:49 PM IST
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