- The UK will send 1,000 more ventilators for use in India’s
hospitals
- The Chief Medical Officer, Chief Scientific Adviser and NHS
staff have given help and advice to their Indian counterparts
- Fresh assistance follows medical relief sent by the
Government last week and a surge in support from the British
people to India
- On Tuesday the Prime Minister will hold a virtual meeting
with Indian Prime Minister Modi to discuss deepening cooperation
between the UK and India
India’s fight against a surge in coronavirus cases will be
reinforced by new UK Government support announced by the Prime
Minister today. 1,000 ventilators will be sent from the UK’s
surplus supply to Indian hospitals to help the most severe Covid
cases.
This is in addition to 200 ventilators, 495 oxygen concentrators
and 3 oxygen generation units the UK announced we were sending to
India last week.
Chief Medical Officer and Chief
Scientific Adviser have also
spoken to their Indian counterparts to provide advice, insight
and expertise to the Indian healthcare system as it deals with
the world’s worse surge in Covid levels.
NHS England is also establishing a clinical advisory group led by
Chief People Officer Prerana Isaar to support India’s Covid
response. The group will work with Indian institutions such as
the All India Institute of Medical Services to share experience
on managing Covid outbreaks. The group will include researchers
in public and global health, alongside nursing and other health
professionals who have experience of the Indian healthcare
system.
In a powerful demonstration of what Indian Prime Minister Modi
has called the ‘living bridge’ between our countries, over the
last week British people have come to the support of India in
huge numbers. Businesses, civil society and the wider public have
responded to appeals for help and launched funding drives.
This includes the British Asian Trust’s ‘Oxygen for India’
emergency appeal, which is raising funds for oxygen concentrators
to be rapidly deployed to Indian hospitals. The BAT appeal, which
has been personally backed by the Prince of Wales, has raised
more than £1.5m in the last week.
Virgin Atlantic also flew 200 boxes of oxygen concentrators to
Delhi on Saturday, after partnering with Khalsa Aid. Further
cargo space will be given free of charge on 6 flights to India in
the next week, in association with The Red Cross.
India has also provided support to the UK throughout the
coronavirus pandemic. As the ‘pharmacy of the world’ the country
has kept its borders open to supply the UK with vital medicine
and PPE – exporting over 11 million face masks and 3 million
packets of paracetamol over the course of 2020.
On Tuesday the Prime Minister will hold a virtual meeting with
Prime Minister Modi to agree a huge range of commitments to
deepen cooperation between the UK and India, including on
fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister said:
“The terrible images we have seen in India in recent
weeks are all the more powerful because of the close and enduring
connection between the people of the UK and India.
“I am deeply moved by the surge of support the British
people have provided to the people of India and am pleased the UK
Government has been able to play our part in providing
life-saving assistance.
“The UK will always be there for India in its time of
need.”
The world is safer and stronger because of work between the UK
and India. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, for example, was
developed in the UK, is currently being produced in the millions
by India’s Serum Institute and will be distributed to the world
at cost through COVAX.
It is those shared values of openness and the pursuit of
knowledge and scientific advancement for the betterment of our
societies that lie at the heart of the relationship between the
UK and India. During his call with Prime Minister Modi the Prime
Minister will emphasise the importance of working with India to
promote our shared values.
India is the largest democracy in the world, a fellow
Commonwealth country and in June Prime Minister Modi will travel
to the UK to attend the G7 Summit as a guest – one of four world
leaders invited to join the Summit of leading democracies.
Foreign Secretary said:
“This support will help urgently meet some of India’s
acute needs, particularly oxygen for patients. We are determined
to help our Indian friends in their hour of need.
“We need to all work together to defeat Covid-19. No one
is safe until we are all safe.”
Notes to Editors:
- A number of other UK charities are running their own appeals
for India’s Covid crisis, including ActionAid, Action Against
Hunger, the British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International,
Christian Aid, Concern, Age UK, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan UK,
Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision.
