AN OLDHAM GP has helped raise more than £40,000 to aid India’s battle against an escalating Covid-19 crisis.
Dr Anita Sharma, a GP at the South Chadderton Health Centre, has helped raise £41,511 to fund life-saving medical equipment for India as supplies run perilously low.
The country’s healthcare system is struggling to deal with a surge in coronavirus infections that has resulted in more than 200,000 deaths.
Dr Anita Sharma who was born and raised in India has joined other physicians from the British International Doctors Association in an emergency appeal.
She said: “Britain made desperate pleas for help during the 1940s and 1950s for qualified medics to come here and Indian doctors rallied to that call and indeed opened-up new practices in the most impoverished areas of the UK.
“Those doctors have been amongst the most professional and innovative that the NHS has ever seen, staging nurses in GP practices for example. We have all seen the heartbreak that Covid-19 has reeked in India. Perhaps now is the time for UK based people to respond to that cry for help?”
Rotary Rochdale has already raised £1000 to aid the campaign, while BAPIO (British Association Physician of Physician of Indian Origin) is also garnering funds to source 200 oxygen concentrators for India.
Dr Sharma added: “I do question how lax the Indian government has been in imposing lockdowns and with no furlough scheme available, can see why low-paid workers are risking their health to earn money. Large gatherings at religious festivals haven’t helped much, either.
“I think you can ask questions of the Indian government and wonder about the wisdom of allowing a lucrative competition like the Indian Premier League to continue literally yards away from where thousands of people are dying, but now is not the time for blame or indeed suggest that this is just someone else’s problem.
“GPs from India came to Britain because they had a special affinity with the country but also because they cared. Now it is our turn to step-up.”
To donate to the British International Doctors Association emergency appeal, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bida-bida
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here