The Bupa Health Foundation has donated $50,000 to UNICEF Australia to help support efforts in response to the COVID-19 crisis unfolding in India.
There have been over 2.6 million new COVID-19 cases and more than 200,000 deaths caused by the virus in India over the past week.
In addition to donating $50,000, Bupa announced it has also established a COVID-19 Crisis Support Appeal for its over 20,000 employees across Australia and New Zealand who may wish to contribute. The company said it will match all donations dollar for dollar.
CEO Hisham El-Ansary said the scale of the crisis demanded support from organisations such as Bupa.
“As a health and care company, with operations in the region, we need to play our part in responding to this humanitarian crisis. Through the support of our business, our people and relief organisations like UNICEF, we can make a significant contribution to saving lives in India.
"Our hearts go out to our Bupa colleagues and the broader population in India, together with our people, customers and communities in Australia and New Zealand with family members who may be directly impacted,” said Mr El-Ansary.
Bupa UK has also announced a donation to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s (DEC) appeal to provide medical supplies, treatment facilities and logistics support to overwhelmed health services in the country.
“Supporting each other, wherever needed across the world, is a key learning from this pandemic,” said Mr El-Ansary.
UNICEF Australia’s CEO Tony Stuart said the response to COVID-19 requires a truly united response.
“The situation in India is critical and this donation will go directly to our response there where we are urgently working to equip hospitals with Oxygen Generation Plants and provide other critically needed oxygen and testing supplies."
I thank the Bupa Health Foundation and its team for its generous donation and for also demonstrating a leading role in how the private sector can support this response,” said Mr Stuart.