South Korean tech giant Samsung on Tuesday announced that it has pledged $5 million (nearly Rs 37 crore) as its contribution towards India’s fight against the current surge of Covid-19 cases in the country.
The company will provide donations to central and state governments to boost the healthcare sector with essential medical equipment for hospitals, as part of its citizenship initiatives.
The decisions have been taken after due consultations with various stakeholders in India and assessing the immediate needs of local administrations, Samsung said in a statement.
The company will donate $3 million to the Centre as well as to the states Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Samsung will provide $2 million worth of medical supplies, including 100 oxygen concentrators, 3,000 oxygen cylinders and one million Low Dead Space (LDS) syringes to Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
LDS or ‘Low Dead Spac’e syringes minimise the amount of drug left in the device after injection, optimising vaccine usage, the company said.
The technology has demonstrated up to 20 per cent per cent greater efficiency and if existing syringes were to deliver one million doses, LDS syringes could deliver 1.2 million doses with the same amount of vaccine.
Additionally, as part of its people initiative, Samsung will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India, to safeguard their lives, as vaccine doses become available.
In April 2020, Samsung had contributed Rs 20 crore towards India’s fight against the pandemic.
