O2 Life - Bed to Breath Lions Clubs District 306 C1 brings hope for COVID-19 patients

Life Project – ‘Bed to Breath’ launched by Lions Clubs International District 306 C1 together with Sri Lanka College of Internal Medicine and Ceylon College of Physicians

By Nishantha Hewage

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is surging in the country, the immediate need for medical equipment and other facilities has risen unprecedentedly. In this context the Lions Clubs International District 306 C1 has initiated a project named “O2 Life - Bed to Breath” in collaboration with the Sri Lanka College of Internal Medicine (SLCIM) and the Ceylon College of Physicians (CCP) with other concerned organisations. This project aims to raise funds to donate 11,000 bed units to 191 hospitals that treat COVID-19 patients.  

About 30%-40% of Covid-19 patients in Sri Lanka are dependent on an external oxygen supply. O2 Life project aims to meet this need and save thousands of lives. O2 Life is in contact with the physicians in the hospitals which treat COVID-19 patients. These physicians have provided the O2 Life project team with invaluable information before launching the project. The project costs about 2500 million. To make this project a reality the concerned organisations expect donations from people who want to make a contribution to this project.

The launching ceremony was held recently at the Lions Activity Centre in Colombo 7 with the participation of the Governor of Lions Clubs International District 306 C1 Lion Amal Pussallage, Consultant Physician and the SLCIM President Dr. Harsha Satischandra, Senior Professor and CCP President Professor Senaka Rajapakshe, Consultant Physician and Secretary of SLCIM  Dr. Shamitha Dassanayake, Project Chairman President’s Counsel Lion Jagath Wickramanayake, Project Co-Chairman Senior Professor Lion Ananda Jayawardane and several other guests.

Addressing a media conference O2 Life Project Chairman and President’s Counsel Mr.Wickramanayake said it was a time that all Sri Lankans had to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic which had become a threat to humans.  He said preparedness was a vital factor to face the adverse impacts of this unprecedented situation. Mr.Wickramanayake said, “Finding solutions for a pandemic is not easy. I consider O2 Life project as the epitome of the services I have rendered so far. The pandemic is a catastrophe that affects all human beings irrespective of the differences. We have to face this together. It has been more than a month since the country has been in lockdown. It is not an easy task to find solutions for the pandemic at once. We don’t know how this will continue. We designed this project to contribute to the task of saving lives.”  He said this project could not be implemented at a personal level adding that the Lions Club was the best organisation to implement this massive project. He said, “As the Lion Club’s motto goes as “we serve” we are always committed to serve others.” He said that they intended to take this project forward under the theme “A Bed to Breath”. “Initially we needed the support of the physicians. Thus the Sri Lanka College of Internal Medicine and the Ceylon College of Physicians partnered with us to take this project forward. It is these organization’s medical specialists who are in charge of 191 hospitals which treat COVID-19 patients. The Broadcasters Guild of Sri Lanka and the professional Web Journalists Association have also extended their support to this project,” Mr.Wickramanayake said.

Discussing the accountability of the project, O2 Life Project’s Co- Chairman Prof. Ananda Jayawardane said that finding out the technical specifications and its evaluation are done by the doctors nominated by the CCP and the SLCIM. “Even a few members of the Lions Club are expected to be deployed in it. The selection of the necessary equipment for bed units is done by experts. A committee comprising Lions Club members is established for procurement purposes.” Prof. Jayawardane also said that the committee would be independent in every sense.  He said this committee would be chaired by the Former Lions Clubs Governor Mahesh Pasqual. “All designated accounts are to be handled by the District in accordance with the District Constitution and financial regulations,” he said.

According to Prof. Jayawardane two accounts are maintained for the project. “One belongs to Lions Clubs International as the Lions Clubs International confers honorary titles to the Lions (Members) who credit or deposit money to this account. There is another account solely established for this project. The money can be deposited through our website. A main Internet payment gateway is linked to this account and payments can be made from anywhere in the world through a credit card payment, online transfer or deposit. All the necessary details with regard to payments are in the O2 Life website,” he said.

Prof. Jayawardane said the money received would be used only for this project “The progress of the project will be notified in the website and will be updated every week with project progress and financial status. All the goods purchased will be consigned to the Director General of Health Services,” Prof.Jayawardane said. He said auditing would play a vital role. “Therefore we chose to get services from a reputed Audit company in Sri Lanka.” According to Prof. Jayawardane the entire project will be carried out in phases and will be closely monitored.  He said, “The procurement will be aligned with continuous assessment of needs to cater for any other donations received and evolving situation of the pandemic and in hospitals. Urgency of needs will be assessed and distribution will be prioritised based on the information from the Consultant Physicians who handle COVID-19 patients. Lion District will maintain full information of the procurement, distribution where the facilities are established with their numbers. We will ensure that all parties involved are duly informed of the progress and the procurement done in the project. We urge all people to support this noble cause and make it a success.” 

He said the donations could be made through O2 Life website which has full details of how the payments could be made. 

Those who wish to make a donation may contact +94 773 155 155/+94 777 688 865