Delivery of medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in India. Photo: Israeli Embassy in India
As India prepares for the possible third wave of COVID-19 after recording more than 29 million infections, Israel is sharing its advanced technology for rapidly manufacturing oxygen concentrators, generators and different types of respirators.
In an interview with The Algemeiner, Israel’s ambassador to India Ron Malka said: “Israel has shared all its achievements and knowledge, from the successful fight against the pandemic and the latest technology developed in the country to the very efficient and fast manufacturing of oxygen concentrators.” “In the second wave of catastrophic COVID-19 infections that caught India off guard, Israel continues to deliver aid with oxygen concentrators and respirators to India.”
Israel has shipped several batches of life-saving medical equipment to India, including more than 1,300 oxygen concentrators and more than 400 ventilators, which arrived in New Delhi last month. Up to now, the Israeli government has delivered more than 60 tons of medical supplies, 3 oxygen generators, and 420 ventilators to India. Israel has allocated more than $3.3 million in public funds for aid work.
“Even though hundreds of missiles were fired from Gaza to Israel during the hostilities last month, we continue to carry out this operation and collect as many missiles as possible because we understand the urgency of humanitarian needs. This is why we do not have The reason for stopping this operation is that every hour is important in providing life-saving equipment,” Marka said.
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“Some oxygen generators were used on the same day they arrived in India, saving lives in the New Delhi hospital,” he added. “The Indians are saying that each oxygen concentrator we provide can save an average of 20 lives.”
Israel also launched a special event to raise funds to purchase medical equipment and support companies to provide assistance to India. One of the organizations helping to get support is Start-Up Nation Central, which raised about $85,000 from the private sector to purchase 3.5 tons of equipment, including oxygen generators.
“India does not need money. They need medical equipment, including as many oxygen generators as possible,” Anat Bernstein-Reich, chairman of the Israel-India Chamber of Commerce, told The Algemeiner. “We have seen Bezalel [Art Academy] students donating 150,000 shekels of 50 shekels to the Israeli company Amdocs.”
According to Bernstein-Reich, Ginegar Plastic, IceCure Medical, Israeli metal-air energy system developer Phinergy and Phibro Animal Health also received large donations.
Other Israeli companies that have contributed by providing oxygen equipment include large local companies such as Israel Chemical Co., Ltd., Elbit Systems Ltd. and IDE Technologies.
In addition, radiologists in Indian hospitals are using artificial intelligence software from Israeli technology company RADLogics for diagnostic imaging to help detect and identify COVID-19 infection in chest CT images and X-ray scans. Hospitals in India use RADLogics’ software as a service, which is installed and integrated on-site and through the cloud for free.
“The private sector has contributed so much that we still have funds available. The effective restriction now is to find more medical oxygen equipment in the warehouse to update and repair them,” Marka said. “Last week, we sent another 150 updated oxygen concentrators. We are still collecting more, and maybe we will send another batch next week.”
As India began to overcome the deadly second wave of coronavirus infections, major cities — the number of new infections fell to a two-month low — began to lift lockdown restrictions and reopen shops and shopping malls. As early as April and May, when India was severely lacking medical supplies such as life-saving oxygen and ventilators, there were as many as 350,000 new COVID-19 infections, overcrowded hospitals and hundreds of thousands of deaths in the country every day. Nationwide, the number of new infections per day has now fallen to approximately 60,471.
“The pace of vaccination in India has accelerated, but there is still a long way to go. Experts say it may take up to two years for them to be vaccinated at the critical point of this population, which will put them in a safer place. Place,” Marka pointed out. “There may be more waves, more mutants, and variants. They need to be prepared. Fearing that there may be a third wave of epidemics, India is starting to build new factories for oxygen concentrators. Now we are helping Indian entities. .”
The ambassador said: “We have transferred advanced technology from Israel for the rapid manufacture of oxygen concentrators and generators and various respirators that have been found to be useful in fighting this epidemic.”
In Israel’s own wave of coronavirus, the country repurposed defense and military technology for civilian use. For example, the government, together with the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries Corporation (IAI), converted a missile production facility into mass production ventilators within a week to make up for the shortage of life-saving machines. IAI is also one of the donors of oxygen generators in India.
Israel is now also working on a plan to cooperate with India on drug medical research to fight COVID-19, as the country is preparing for more waves of infections.
Marka concluded: “Israel and India can be shining examples of how countries around the world can cooperate and support each other in times of crisis.”
Post time: Jul-14-2021