With support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation grant, C-CAMP along with Office of PSA will oversee the establishment of new emergency hospitals and a number of mobile hospital units with a total of 364 beds and the capacity to treat close to 1300 COVID-19 patients per week with oxygen concentrators and respiratory support equipment among other emergency infrastructure. In the areas most severely affected the capacity will be in place within few weeks, and the mobile hospital units will be set up as soon as possible in states where infection rates are expected to increase in the coming weeks.
The proposed hospital locations have been identified based on urgent need requests as received from State Government health agencies.
Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, C-CAMP CEO & Director, said “Cases are skyrocketing in several states and hospital beds with oxygen capability are the need of the hour even in previously self-reliant urbanized health care centres. With this support from Novo Nordisk Foundation, we are eager to boost the number of oxygenated beds and ICUs on a war footing and enhance capacity even in states that currently witness relatively low cases. With a strong possibility of Third Wave in future, such models of collaboration will be crucial for augmenting an immensely stretched healthcare system.”
“The situation in India is alarming. That is why we have decided to support the establishment of emergency hospitals here and now, and at the same time, we contribute to increasing the capacity in the geographic areas expected to be hit by infections in the near future,” says Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
C-CAMP as a DBT and Niti Aayog, GoI supported innovation hub has been at the forefront of India’s response to COVID-19. It has played a pivotal role in India’s fight back by fostering life-saving COVID-19 innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc under several key, nationally and globally recognized programs.
The Royal Danish Embassy in New Delhi is facilitating contact with Indian authorities under the project as well as cooperating with the project on communication.
“A swift expansion of the hospital capacity in the most severely afflicted areas cannot wait. The donation from the Novo Nordisk Foundation is a considerable contribution to this important mission,” the Danish ambassador to India, Freddy Svane, points out.
Press links - 1) https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/novo-nordisk-foundation-p... [Hindu Business Line]
2) https://yourstory.com/2021/05/c-camp-receives-rs-12-crore-grant-novo-nor... [YourStory]
3) https://www.biovoicenews.com/novo-nordisk-foundation-to-partner-c-camp-f... [Biovoice]
4) https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/12-cr-grant-from... [Bangalore Mirror]
5) https://www.biospectrumindia.com/news/77/18595/c-camp-receives-rs-12-cr-... [Biospectrum]
6) http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=138364&sid=2 [Pharmabiz]