18:00, 17 June 2021
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has received €3 million from the Ikea Foundation. This will help the charity to sustain and strengthen healthcare services for people in India while they tackle the spike in Covid-19 cases.
From an emergency medical centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra, MSF is helping dense populations who are facing a surge in the virus. Sixty of their in-country staff have built teams with experience in treating Covid-19. Their medical professionals are supporting Mumbai’s 2,000-bed BKC Hospital to treat severely ill patients.
General Director of MSF Switzerland Stephen Cornish said: “The second wave of Covid-19 in India has been devastating, with a catastrophic rise in the numbers of new infections in recent weeks. MSF has mobilized staff —including doctors, nurses, anesthesia technicians, and psychologists— and is in the process of recruiting and sending additional teams with Covid-19 experience to provide care for people who are affected, including those who require hospitalization and oxygen therapy.”
Responding to the donation, he added: “We want to thank the Ikea Foundation for this new unrestricted donation for our projects in India, which allows us to keep offering medical humanitarian care for the most vulnerable people, as well as to ensure the protection of front-line healthcare workers.”
Over the past years the Ikea Foundation has funded better healthcare provisions in disadvantaged countries with donations of over €40 million to MSF.
CEO of the Ikea Foundation Per Heggenes said: “In India, where the Ikea Foundation has its roots, we see the horrific impact and the tragedy of the pandemic unfolding every single day. We stand with the people of India and have pledged immediate support so that they can emerge from this crisis.
“We all need to come together and do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 and support ongoing life-saving medical activities in India. Today, I call on the world’s governments, businesses and philanthropies to join us and increase the relief support for the people of India.”
In May India became the epicentre of the pandemic, becoming the second worst-hit country after the US. In less than a month it recorded 100,000 deaths and became the third country for the death toll to surpass 300,000.
To help the Ikea Foundation support healthcare systems in disaster-struck countries, donate here.
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