The Breathe India Initiative run by Covid India Campaign was recently launched in Karnataka. Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Dr Ashwath Narayan took part in the inauguration where he dedicated machines, patient monitors and other medical equipment and supplies to the society in the presence of ADGP Reserve Police Alok Kumar.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Narayan thanked the organisers for coming together in such a short time and supporting six centres. He said, “We thank Covid India Campaign for supporting the state government of Karnataka in this time of need by launching the Breathe India initiative and the seven community oxygen centres across the state. This initiative has been instrumental in easing the need for oxygen in the hospitals and augmenting the entire healthcare system in the state”

Dr Shalini Nalwad, Chairperson, ICATT Foundation and Co-founder, Covid India Campaign said, "We have been very active since the first wave, enabling more than Rs 4 crores worth of N95 masks, PPE kits and other essential medical supplies to the frontline workers and we are now focussing on converting normal beds into oxygenated beds by deploying the necessary medical infrastructure in place.”

Dr Naga Nischal, Consultant Emergency Medicine, Head of Clinical Services at Cloudnine Hospitals and Karnataka President for the Society for Emergency Medicine of India said, “When patients are
administered oxygen early, deterioration of their condition can be avoided. We aim to shorten the time to availability of oxygen for needy patients by launching community oxygen centres pan India that will administer oxygen and needful medications without a delay.”

Swadeep Pillarisetti, an IIT Madras alumnus, Co-founder of Covid India Campaign (CIC) and Lead, Breathe India Initiative said, “Speed is of the essence, hence we quickly conceptualised this and brought together this amazing team of volunteers and organisations in a record time. We aim to set up one Community Oxygen Centre every 24 hours across the country. We have also garnered strong CSR support from various large corporates and NGOs in India as well as abroad.”