ICICI Foundation to donate 1,800 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in the Himalayan belt, tribal areas

On Thursday, the CSR arm of ICICI Group, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth or ICICI Foundation, announced that it will donate about 1,800 oxygen concentrators to sub-divisional hospitals in the Himalayan belt and remote tribal areas of India in the year 2021-22.

Through this donation, the Foundation aims to provide people in these regions with immediate oxygen support in case of a medical emergency.

These concentrators will be provided free-of-cost to over 700 sub-divisional hospitals across nearly 175 districts in 17 states. In fact, the first batch of over 300 concentrators has been dispatched.

 “Since the outbreak of the pandemic, ICICI Group has undertaken relief activity in over 551 districts across all states and union territories of the country. The Group has spent Rs 200 crore to support the nation in its fight against the pandemic,” says Saurabh Singh, President, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.

“The donation includes the Group’s contribution to the ‘PM Cares Fund’, supply of materials like ventilators, sanitisers, masks and personal protective equipment to state governments as well as local authorities, and upgrading medical infrastructure in several parts of the country,” he adds.

The Foundation has procured high-quality oxygen concentrators from BPL Medical Technologies and Philips India, which can ensure prompt and efficient maintenance support for the machines, as and when required, due to their vast network in the country.

Moreover, it is also providing a power backup system so that the concentrators can filter and produce medical-grade oxygen uninterrupted even in case of a power breakdown.

ALSO READ

Moglix Director talks about solutions to oxygen concentrator supply challenges

Since these devices also need timely maintenance and servicing, the foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BPL Medical Technologies to co-create a specialised skill training module on the installation and the servicing of the oxygen concentrators.

This module will be part of the curriculum being offered by ICICI Academy For Skills, a part of ICICI Foundation, which imparts pro-bono vocational training to lesser privileged youth. Post the training, the successful trainees can earn a livelihood by servicing oxygen concentrators.

Saurabh shares, “Our partnership with BPL Medical Technologies will help in skilling lesser privileged youth to service oxygen concentrators. The skill training modules customised for servicing of oxygen concentrators will plug the gap for maintenance while providing a livelihood for underprivileged youth.”