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There is an urgent need for more breathing aids to support the fight against COVID19 in lower-middle-income countries. In Nepal, the need is particularly great right NOW.
Our team, UCL Ventura, is working on a humanitarian and not-for-profit basis to distribute and share a life-saving breathing aid, known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), internationally.
We have released the designs and manufacturing instructions at no cost to support the humanitarian fight against COVID-19. Over 20 countries are now manufacturing these at scale, including India. However, not all countries have the manufacturing capabilities and resources to do this in time.
We have helped get breathing aids to lower-middle-income countries in time to make a difference. We have recently helped send UCL-Ventura breathing aids to hard-hit hospitals in India, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon Bengal, and Uganda.
Now, Nepal needs our partnership and support. COVID-19 infections there are surging at an unprecedented rate. As of May 2021, the UN says that Nepal has the highest transmission rate in the world with almost 50% (1 in 2 people) testing positive, most of whom are affected by the new Indian variant of concern B.1.617.2. The Nepal health system is weaker than in India and less than 7% of the population have received one dose of vaccine. The Nepal government and health officials are calling for medical supplies to be sent urgently as soon as possible. There is a desperate need for oxygen and people are dying for want of ICU beds and oxygen. In a country of nearly 30 million people, Nepal only has just over 450 ventilators, so the impact would be great.
We are working with a partner in India that is manufacturing consumables and breathing circuits for the CPAPs. These could be shipped immediately from India to Nepal if we can raise funds to cover the basic costs of materials, manufacture and delivery.
Click the button above to support this cause. If you would like to discuss this in more detail, then we are available to talk to you at ihecovid19response@ucl.ac.uk. You can also learn more about UCL Ventura and its international impact on our website.
We have set a minimum target to raise £340,000 which will cover the costs of delivering 2000 set of UCL-Ventura CPAP consumables packages from India to Nepal at a cost of £170 per kit including delivery.
Why?
COVID-19 infections across the globe are growing rapidly. The healthcare infrastructure in many countries is at risk of becoming overwhelmed.
In the UK, our team from UCL, University College London Hospital (UCLH) and Mercedes-AMG HPP (Formula 1) has developed a life-saving breathing aid. We manufactured 10,000 devices for the UK government which are now being used in over 130 NHS hospitals. UCLH data shows using CPAP reduces a patient's chances of needing invasive ventilation by 50-60%. This is beneficial not only for the patient, but also for optimising healthcare resources such as hospital beds and trained healthcare workers, which are already in short supply.
We have been working with the non-profit International Medical Education Trust (IMET2000), Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and other partners to bring UCL Ventura CPAP devices to Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Uganda and Bengal where they are vitally needed to support the fight against COVID-19.
We also worked with the UK government to send 1,160 UCL-Ventura CPAP kits as part of their emergency supplies to India. This was in response to the recent high surge in COVID-19 infections.
We are able to supply more breathing aids immediately on a humanitarian basis, but need support to cover the basic costs of materials, manufacture and delivery. With the peak of infection and number of deaths rising, it is critical that we respond quickly.
Contact us at ihecovid19response@ucl.ac.uk with any questions or to discuss more.
Meet the international teams
One year after its development, the UCL-Ventura breathing aid is helping COVID-19 patients in over 15 countries. A multitude of collaborations has made this possible.
