Like you, we have watched in horror as India's deadly pace of coronavirus infection and death have become ever more visible.
The scenes are dramatic – families holding sick loved ones in the street, having been turned away from hospitals. Smoke from makeshift crematoriums billowing into the sky. Poor families driven deeper into poverty by lost income and shuttered markets, now at even greater risk of catching COVID-19 as the virus spreads.
India's crisis has made the disease more deadly there than anywhere else on the planet at the moment. More than 18 million cases have been reported, constituting more than 40% of infections globally. The heavily populated Maharashtra region and Mumbai, its largest city, bears nearly 5 million cases as infections rose over the weekend, amounting to 1 infection for every 24 people. Bangalore, in India’s south and Uttar Pradesh – the most densely populated political district in the world – in the north also are burdened by steep rates of infection. Yet the pace of infection is not limited to cities alone and stretches to the country’s borders with Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, China and Myanmar.
That's a concern, especially in Nepal – where infections have spiked in a staggering 550% increase in the last two weeks.
Will you reach out to help your neighbors in India?
Even as many of us are fortunate to live in places that have access to a vaccine, India's horrible spike in cases is a reminder just how much generous hearts are still needed to save lives, and keep people safe.
Your caring gift will ensure someone standing outside one of more than 270 hospitals we support will not be turned away.
Your generosity will mean the difference between a mother or father receiving care so they can survive the pandemic and provide for their families, and the stark alternative of orphaning children who will lapse deeper into poverty or worse.
Your gift is a friendly affirmation to India's poor that someone half a world away cares about them regardless of the economic situation into which they have been born.
Your loving kindness will provide oxygen and ventilators in a coordinated effort with India's government to overcome limits in supply. Medicines, pulse oximeters, personal protective equipment and more will help hospitals to keep up with demand. At least 50 hospitals require investments of $30,000 or more each to be able to cope with the staggering pace of demand.
Your helpful concern for our neighbors in need will outlive the pandemic, improving the infrastructure in clinics over the long term.
