With the world looking on in horror at events unfolding in India, so efforts at aiding the COVID-stricken country are finally becoming reality. Among them, an aircraft has flown from Nanjing with supplies of life-saving oxygen concentrators on board.
It was on Tuesday, 4 May, that the aircraft, operated by SpiceXpress, took off from Nanjing with the equipment. Joining another that left Hong Kong a little earlier, the shipments were the third such consignment of aid, reported India’s The Tribune.
The cargo on board the aircraft which left Nanjing comprised 2,450 oxygen concentrators and Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure machines (BiPAPs). The oxygen concentrators are particularly crucial as the relatively cheap device can be used in the home. Replacing the oxygen cylinders which India desperately lacks, the concentrators filter nitrogen from air to give the patient a breathable supply of high-density oxygen.
At time of writing, oxygen concentrators have a ballpark price per unit of ¥3,500 (40,000 Indian Rupee).
SpiceXpress is the cargo division of SpiceJet, the budget airline founded by Ajay Singh in 2005 with the aim to make flying affordable for all Indians. In 2017, Bloomberg rated SpiceJet as the best performing aviation stock in the world.
Singh, who is also Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet, spoke with Mint, one of India’s premium business news publications. “Considering the current situation across the country, our focus is to airlift as many oxygen concentrators, BiPAPs and other medical devices as possible to cater to the increasing demand. SpiceJet and SpiceHealth are collaborating actively to contribute in our country’s dedicated efforts to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic”, he said.
India’s acute shortage of oxygen for unprecedented numbers of COVID sufferers comes down to two things.
The country’s healthcare system has been underfunded and neglected for a very long time. Over the past 6 years, India’s spending on healthcare has amounted to 3.6 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. For comparison, the figure for China is 5 percent and in Germany, it is as much as 11.2 percent, reported the BBC yesterday, 5 May.
Then there were the confused messages to the public from the country’s top officials, including Prime Minister (PM), Narendra Modi. In September of last year, the PM declared COVID beaten in India. Large public gatherings were permitted to again take place and while ministers urged the use of masks, few practiced what they preached, happy to make unmasked appearances before large unmasked crowds.
Last month, the Hindu festival, Kumbh Mela, went ahead, with millions of people in attendance and hardly a face mask in sight.
