Washington DC: The US has so far sent six planes carrying emergency supplies to India, which is battling one of its worst public health crises.
The emergency supplies include 20,000 courses of remdesivir (125,000 vials) to help treat critically ill patients, nearly 1,500 oxygen cylinders, which can be repeatedly refilled at local supply centres, and one million rapid diagnostic tests to quickly identify COVID-19 cases.
The six planes, which have landed in just six days, also carried nearly 550 mobile oxygen concentrators that obtain oxygen from ambient air. These units have a lifespan of more than five years and can serve multiple patients at once, depending on their oxygen needs.
The US has also sent nearly 2.5 million N95 masks to protect healthcare professionals and other frontline workers.
According to the USAID, a large-scale deployable Oxygen Concentration System that can provide oxygen to treat 20 or more patients at a time and 210 pulse oximeters to measure oxygen levels in a patient's blood to determine whether a higher level of care is needed has also been sent to India.
The US government assistance to combat the current crisis is about USD100 million. The United States is continuing to work closely with Indian officials and health experts to identify and respond to emerging trends in this ongoing crisis, the USAID said.
The six shipments were made possible by a USAID-led whole-of-government effort, which included the Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services, Travis Air Force Base, in partnership with the state of California, National Airlines, and United Airlines, it added.
Last week, the USAID immediately allocated funding to purchase locally an additional 1,000 mobile oxygen concentrators.
These life-saving units will be used in hundreds of primary health care facilities to address India's critical oxygen shortage.
The USAID said it is also supporting the Government of India's efforts to stand up 150 Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen generating plants, allowing 150 healthcare facilities to generate their own oxygen for years to come.
Meanwhile, a prominent group of Indian-American doctors on Friday urged the US government to release at least 30 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to India to help meet its "acute and severe" shortage in the country, which is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 in the world.
The American Association of Physicians of Indian-Origin (AAPI), the largest representative body of Indian-American doctors in the United States, has also written letters to all the 100 senators, seeking their support in increased assistance to India.
AAPI said it has been working with the White House officials and urging the administration the importance and the need to send the much-needed vaccines to India to prevent and contain the spread of the virus.