KATHMANDU: Humanitarian organizations based in the United States have supported the Pratiman-Neema Memorial Foundation with health assistance worth Rs 20.7 million.

In order to combat the fatal second wave of Covid 19 and provide support to the government of Nepal to counter the pandemic, an appeal was made by Pratiman-Neema Memorial Foundation (PNMF), a nonprofit organization based in Western Nepal to the Project HOPE, leading global health and humanitarian organization based in Washington, D.C.

As a result, the project HOPE stepped forward with the humanitarian response by providing medical supplies and equipment support for 12 districts in Lumbini Province, which is currently one of the worst-hit provinces in Nepal.

According to Executive Director,  Swati Thapa, PNMF supported by Project HOPE, has started the distribution work from Lumbini Provincial Hospital in Butwal.

The medical items have been planned according to the need of the government hospitals which includes oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, Intensive Care Unit Beds, Personal Protective Equipment gown, face masks, face shields, surgical gloves, surgical caps, sanitizers, medical tents, BiPAP and CPAP machines.

“We are very pleased and thankful to receive the huge support of crucial medical from international organizations in this severe critical situation and crisis time for Nepal”  she added.

PNMF handed over medical supplies distribution plan, which was prepared through need assessment and ground research, to the Minister of Health and Population of Lumbini Province last Tuesday.

“We thank the international and local partners for their efforts towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bhoj Prasad Shrestha, Minister of Health and Population of Lumbini Province. The support will benefit vulnerable populations, including health workers, who are at the frontline fighting the deadly virus.

The medical supplies included cylinder (100 units), oxygen regulator set (100 units), oxygen concentrator (84 units), PPE medical gown and shoe cover (2000 units), masks (12000 pcs), face shield with specs (4000 units), surgical caps (4000 units), surgical gloves (2000 units), sanitizer (1000 liters), medical tents( 5 pcs), BIPAP and CIPAP Machine ( 5 units), ICU bed and mattresses (5 Units ).

“We are happy to directly support the health system of Nepal in their fight against Covid-19 with significant donations of critical medical supplies,” said Emilija Dukovski, Team Lead, Emergency Response Nepal at Project Hope.

Besides, various rounds of training for health care workers on Covid-19, acute care, and vaccination were conducted in collaboration with local partners and authorities. “We hope that this will just be the beginning of our work and presence in Nepal and that together we can accomplish even more,” she said.

Lumbini Province also received additional funding worth Rs 1.5 million from Sangsangai, another U.S.-based organization to set up three isolation centers for COVID infected people. All these three isolation centers will be equipped with oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, PPE, surgical gloves, surgical caps, and sanitizers, according to Thapa.

Sangsangai has also provided food supplies in all these three isolation centers for three months and distributed Rs 10,000 each for families who lost their members to COVID -19, as cremation and funeral costs support.

The second wave of the pandemic ravaged Nepal with daily infection cases surging over 8,000. As of early this week, 612,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 8,506 deaths have been reported according to World Health Organization.