Sending 1,000 Medtronic ventilators, 25,000 oxygen concentrators, sets up HR network for supporting employees in India.
Mobilizing for India, a global task force formed by US Chamber of Commerce and over 40 US companies started sending critical medical supplies, vaccines, oxygen and other life-saving assistance to Covid hit India.
The public-private partnership is working with the Chamber’s US-India Business Council and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum to take three immediate actions to help address the Covid-19 surge in India, the chamber said in a press release.
- Sourcing, shipping and delivering 1,000 Puritan Bennett™ ventilators desperately needed by healthcare facilities across India.
- Delivering 25,000 oxygen concentrators to India by the end of May, with transportation support from FedEx.
- Creating the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) India Action Group to provide ideas and practical information to CHROs to help their people in India.
The first ventilators procured by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation arrived in India May 5, with all remaining ventilators expected to arrive by June 3. Medtronic will manufacture the ventilators and handle end-to-end shipping, installation and ongoing and virtual training.
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Launched to provide a unified platform for businesses to mobilize and deliver resources to assist Covid-19 efforts in areas of the highest need around the world, the task force will focus its initial efforts on the pressing need for support in India.
“What we are witnessing in India is a stark reminder that while the US has turned a corner in our efforts to combat the pandemic, our global partners are facing a staggering health crisis that requires a substantial public-private response,” Suzanne Clark, President and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, had stated earlier.
Through its Steering Committee, the task force will work to concentrate efforts where corporate support will be most beneficial, with additional countries to be determined in consultation with the US government.
Steering Committee members, who provide leadership and guidance on the Task Force’s activities, include Raj Subramaniam, President, Chief Operating Officer, and Director, FedEx; Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM and Sanjay Poonen, COO, VMware.
The global task force is working in close collaboration with US and Indian government officials to share information and coordinate efforts, the Chamber said.
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This includes regular briefings with the Modi and Biden Administrations, US Congress, US State Department and the US Agency for International Development.
The task force’s website pandemictaskforce.org includes portal for companies to submit donations of in-kind goods and services.
US companies supporting the cause include: Accenture, Adobe, Amazon, American Express, Amway, Apple, Applied Materials Foundation, Bank of America, BCG, Citi, David & Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, Dell, Deloitte, Dow, Ernst & Young, Emerson, Facebook, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, John Chambers Foundation, Johnson Controls, JP Morgan Chase & Co, KKR, Lockheed Martin, Mastercard, McCormick & Company, McKinsey & Company, Medtronic, Merck, Microsoft, Nasdaq, Newsweek, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Qualcomm Foundation, Raytheon Technologies, the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, VIAVI Solutions, VMware, Walmart and Zoom.
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