Dubai: Seeing the need of the hour, an Indian diaspora has held several container loads of oxygen synthilanders and constrictors valued at over 1 million, free for India.
A dedicated physician and philanthropist from the United Arab Emirates, Dr. Sanjay Paithankar has sent around 600 oxygen concentrations and 200 cylinders along with medical oxygen in the first toil, which is likely to reach Indian shores in the next 15 days.
Hearing about the lack of oxygen in the Vidarbha region in my home town of Nagpur and Maharashtra, I decided to reach out to like-minded friends over there, to see how we could all help. The response was quick and spectacular and many contributed generously. In fact, a rich rich man who wished to remain anonymous contributed 250 conscriptors to the consignment, ”Dr. Paithankar said that he personally cheated in the amount of Dh200,000 to organize the concentrators and cylinders.
Since there is a shortage of concealers and oxygen cylinders, sourcing them was a challenge. Dr. Pathankar said, “I decided to bring cylinders and concentrators to India as soon as possible. I eventually became the source of these in China and the first batch will be in Mumbai in the next 15 days via Thailand and Singapore. For the next batches, I am working to air-lift the cargo for quick delivery and these efforts are ongoing. I have started this work and will try my best to serve my motherland to the best of my ability. Said Paithankar, who has spent three decades in the UAE. A large part of this period is devoted to providing affordable health care to the underprivileged in the United Arab Emirates.
Reaching out to the sick and needy person
Recipient of a 10-year Golden Visa, Drs. Paithankar is the Managing Director of Wright Health Group, which provides affordable health care to the UAE labor workforce, with clinics in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. By levying subsidized prices for counseling, treatment and medicines over the past 32 years, they have made it possible for blue-collar workers to have full access to quality health care within their basic health insurance. Where the worker is unable to meet the expenses of co-payment, Drs. Paithankar has never shied away from getting the medical help to a worker he needs.
Battling early COVID-19 transmission
During the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United Arab Emirates in March 2020, Drs. Paithankar and his health care team played a very important role by organizing free screening camps for all blue collar workers to prevent the spread of infection.
In the early times when people in the United Arab Emirates were still discovering the deadly effects of COVID-19, Drs. Paithankar joined hands with the Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Police to assist in screening all blue collar workers. It was a gigantic task requiring several thousands of blue-collar jobs with a lot of manpower, with the weakest chain of links being screened, diagnosed, quarantined, or hospitalized.
The DHA and Dubai Police established medical screening camps near various labor camps in early March 2020. At a time, when there was a dire need for health workers to come forward to offer their services and offer their services, one person decided to brush up separately. Cooperate extensively and unconditionally with all other concerns and government for self-protection.
With clinics located close to all labor camps, Drs. Paithankar and health care workers had the best access to and access to workers. “It was my way of giving back to the UAE, a country that has given me so much in the last three decades. I decided to cooperate with the government and have already started my services to the DHA and Dubai Police to set up screening tents near the labor camps at Dubai Investment Park, Jebel Ali, Al Quoz and in all 25 of our right in the Emirates of Ajman decided to. Health Clinic. “
This was a nascent period when information about the virus was still very limited. Dr Paithankar added, “At that moment, we had no idea of how lethal the virus was and we were using the basic protective equipment. We would screen all those who came with symptoms of cough, cold and fever. Those who fit the profile of being infected with COVID-19 were sent for testing to DHA designated centres. We worked closely with the authorities and were screening up to 3,500 workers per day. Of these, nearly 200-300 were sent for RT-PCR testing as in those days, the PCR test was a new diagnostic tool and was limited to a few places. At all the camps, we were putting in long hours during the earliest days of the pandemic. I had recruited extra staff and cancelled annual leave of all my staff and we were putting in over 14 hours of work per day, from 9am to 11pm,” recounted the doctor.
Controlling community transmissions
It was this rapid screening, segregation and isolation which proved to be very effective in those early days in controlling community transmission rates. In the next three months, as the government set up field hospitals, designated hotels etc, it became easier to grade patients into mild, moderate and severe cases. Those who had mild conditions could isolate at hotel rooms, while those who were moderately affected were sent to field hospitals and those who were in severe or critical conditions and required ventilator support were admitted into the COVID-19 Intensive Care Units of hospitals. However, early mass testing of blue-collar workers went a long way in containing the infection rate.