Posted by Gurugram: After global tech giants to Indian startups announced their support to help India fight COVID-19, now Samsung pledges a $5 million (Rs 37 crore) contribution.
Samsung pledges $5million contribution to India’s fight against COVID-19
The South Korean electronics giant has pledged $5 million as its contribution to India’s fight against the current surge of COVID-19 cases. It will be providing donations to central and state governments, and boosting the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals, as part of its citizenship initiatives.
According to the company, decisions have been taken after due consultations with various stakeholders in India and assessing the immediate needs of local administrations. Samsung will donate $3 million to the Centre as well as to the states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Extends support to governments with essential medical equipment
Samsung said it will provide $2 million worth of medical supplies in support of the stretched healthcare system over the past few weeks. These include 100 oxygen concentrators, 3,000 oxygen cylinders and one million LDS syringes. States of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will get these supplies, the company informed.
LDS (Low Dead Space) syringes minimize the amount of drug left in the device after injection, optimizing vaccine usage. Existing products have a large amount of the vaccine remaining in the syringe after use.
The technology has demonstrated up to 20% greater efficiency. If existing syringes were to deliver one million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 1.2 million doses with the same amount of vaccine. Samsung has helped the manufacturer of these syringes increase production capacity.
Additionally, as part of its people initiative, Samsung will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India. This will also include all Samsung Experience Consultants, who work at electronics retail stores across the country.
Samsung said that employee health, safety and well-being are the company’s absolute priority. To help employees and their families with information and access to medical supplies as well as hospital facilities and home care, the company has set up in-house facilities and teams across the country.
Samsung last year had contributed Rs 20 crore to India’s fight against the pandemic. This included a donation to the Central government and support to the local administration in Noida. It had provided hospitals with medical equipment required in the preventive drive against the pandemic such as thousands of preventive masks and personal preventive equipment (PPE) kits.
The company said it salutes all professionals working tirelessly on the frontline of this battle. The Samsung family, which includes our employees across India and our partners and their employees, stand together in this battle against Covid-19.