A newly created global task force of CEOs of top American 40 companies on Wednesday announced an effort to provide massive COVID-19 emergency relief material, including 1,000 ventilators and 25,000 oxygen concentrators, to India in its fight against the coronavirus. India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds. The Global Task Force on Pandemic Response, whose steering committee members include Julie Sweet, CEO, Accenture; Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon; Tim Cook, CEO, Apple; Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Bank of America; Raj Subramaniam, president FedEx; and Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM; also announced creation of Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) India Action Group to provide ideas and practical information to CHROs to help their people in India.
Among other members of the steering committee are Gail McGovern, president and CEO, American Red Cross; Mike Parra, CEO Americas, DHL Express. Jim Fitterling, Chairman and CEO, Dow; Alex Gorsky, chairman of the Board and CEO, Johnson & Johnson; Michael Miebach, CEO, Mastercard; Geoff Martha, chairman and CEO, Medtronic; Brad Smith, president, Microsoft; Ramon Laguarta, Chairman of the Board and CEO, PepsiCo; Carol Tom, CEO, UPS; Sanjay Poonen, COO, VMware; and Judith McKenna, President and CEO, Walmart International. Established as a public-private partnership organised by the US Chamber of Commerce and supported by Business Roundtable, the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response is working in close collaboration with US and Indian government officials to share information and coordinate efforts. This includes regular briefings with the (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (US president Joe) Biden administrations, US Congress, US State Department and the US Agency for International Development, a media release said.
It is working with the Chamber’s US-India Business Council and?the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum to take three immediate actions to help address the COVID-19 surge in India. First sourcing, shipping and delivering 1,000 Puritan Bennett ventilators desperately needed by healthcare facilities across India. The first ventilators procured by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation will arrive in India today, with all remaining ventilators expected to arrive by June 3, a media release said. Medtronic will manufacture the ventilators and handle end-to-end shipping, installation and ongoing and virtual training. Second, delivering 25,000 oxygen concentrators to India by the end of May, with transportation support from FedEx. And finally creating the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) India Action Group to provide ideas and practical information to CHROs to help their people in India. The Task Force said, initial efforts will focus on the pressing need for support in India, with more than 400,000 cases reported on May 1 alone. Through its Steering Committee, the Task Force will work to concentrate efforts where corporate support will be most beneficial, with additional countries to be determined in consultation with the US government, it said.
