‘Please help us and the people of India fight back’
WE dare not say it too loudly for fear that the silent, stealthy killer will come back once again, but there is now a growing, palpable sense of relief that life in Scotland and the rest of the UK is cautiously returning towards normality.
That feeling has in some ways made the recent news coverage of the pandemic in India even more shocking.
Many of us have a sense of how close the NHS came to being overwhelmed and all too many of us know of family or friends who have either been bereaved or know frontline workers who have risked their own health to lead the response.
Despite the great success of the vaccine rollout here at home and the optimism it is generating, we reel at images of funeral pyres on street corners in Delhi and beyond, and realise there are millions of people elsewhere in the world who haven’t yet got that protection and live in parts of the world where they don’t have the added insurance of our national health service.
That distress will no doubt be even more acute for more than 30,000 people of Indian origin who live here in Scotland, so many of them providing care in the NHS.
While India has been developing rapidly in recent times there is still huge poverty and inequality – more than 20 per cent of its population, that’s 275 million people, still have to live on less than £10 a week.
As we have seen in many of the world’s most fragile populations over the past year, in places like Yemen and Syria, that’s often the key factor that makes so many people vulnerable to this indiscriminate virus.
In India, these are most likely to be communities in rural or remote areas, or those already on the fringes of society through their status in the caste system, people with very little chance of access to what we might recognise as a health service and who are often faced with the terrible dilemma of isolating to stay safe or going out to work to feed their families.
It is no surprise either that many of these families won’t have access to fresh water, let alone soap to keep their hands clean, advice which we know only too well is vital to stop the virus in its tracks. Often, if we’re not already too upset to consider what to do when confronted by these distressing images and stories, we wonder what the best way is to help.
That is where we hope you may consider the Disasters Emergency Committee. For nearly 60 years the DEC has been co-ordinating the most effective responses to these acute humanitarian crises and our member charities are already working in many parts of India to deliver lifesaving support.
While many governments, including the UK and Scottish governments, are springing into action to fly oxygen and other vitally needed medical equipment, DEC members like Tearfund and others are already delivering frontline support to the most vulnerable communities through longestablished and trusted local partners. With your help, they can do so much more. As donations flow our members will help rebuild the capacity of the shattered health system by giving doctors and nurses extra protective clothing, disinfectant and other medical supplies, help set up temporary hospitals and care centres with suitable isolation facilities, as well as running helplines to tackle misinformation and providing up-to-date information on the availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and Covid vaccines.
Finally, our members will also tackle the secondary effects of the virus – the loss of livelihoods, so damaging and often deadly to these communities, as people often can’t afford to feed themselves or their families.
Your help will provide food and care packs to people in isolation, cash or vouchers so people can use it for their most urgent needs. Members will also provide mental health and other counselling services, and support children, families and teachers to continue education if schools are closed.
Sadly, the pandemic hasn’t yet reached its peak. There is also growing concern that particularly away from the cities the numbers of people infected could be greater than officially reported. Neighbouring countries like Nepal are arguably even more vulnerable as their health services are even more rudimentary than India’s. Epidemiologists sadly predict a third wave is inevitable too.
Please help us and the people of India fight back and help beat the virus everywhere.
If we’re not too upset to consider what to do when confronted by these distressing images, we wonder what the best way is to help
You can donate to the DEC appeal at dec.org.uk Text SUPPORT to 70150 to donate £10 or call 0370 60 60 900. Post: Send a cheque to DEC Coronavirus Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.
Graeme McMeekin is spokesman for Tearfund Scotland and DEC Scotland