Calling All Science Faculty Alumni and Friends!
Help Sri Lanka with Urgent Medical Supplies Needs!
Table of Contents
- Ways to Contribute to the Medical Supplies to Sri Lanka Project
- Medical Supplies Project Update (August 01, 2022)
- Polypropylene Suture Boxes for Homagama hospital (May 17, 2022)
- Three medications donated to Teaching Hospital Ratnapura (May 09, 2022)
- Medical Supplies to Sri Lanka – Project Update # 1 (May 04, 2022)
- Medical supplies to Sri Lanka – Initial Request (April 20, 2022)
*** How to Contribute to CUFSAA Medical Supplies to Sri Lanka Project***
Please join us in our battle to save lives. Please make your contributions using one of the methods listed below. CUFSAA is an approved charity in the US and your contributions may be tax deductible in the United States.
* You may contribute via the PayPal button from the link below:
Alternatively, you may send us a check made payable to “CUFSAA-NA” and post to the CUFSAA Treasurer at the following address. Please write in the memo line of the check about your donation details and let us know your email address to send Donation Receipt.
Colombo University Faculty of Science Alumni Association c/o Ms. Sandya Liyanarachchi Treasurer – CUFSAA-NA 5870 Tara Hill Drive Dublin OH 43027 USA.
Thank you!
CUFSAA – Executive Committee
Medical Supplies Project Update (August 01, 2022)
CUFSAA-NA Medical support project to help Sri Lankan hospitals during the economic crisis
To say that our land of birth is going through a tough time right now is a gross understatement and will insult the reader’s intelligence even to attempt to describe how grave the situation is. CUFSAA-NA had always come to Sri Lanka’s aid in crisis, as we did in 2021 when we contributed over US$ 150,000 in terms of lifesaving COVID equipment to save the lives of dying Sri Lankans. Even as we speak, Sri Lankans breathe life using the expensive O2 machines we donated to Sri Lanka. CUFSAA-NA is honored to step up again to help struggling Sri Lankans in their gravest hours.
The challenge which Sri Lankans were facing this time around was two-fold. On the one hand, emptying the country’s dollar reserves stopped the import of life-saving medications. On the other hand, the lack of financial resources in the hospitals prevented physicians from accruing critical medicines for their patients.
As the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo alumni, we are honored to make a significant impact in both directions, thanks to your gracious and timely support.
We started the medical supplies project to help hospitals in Sri Lanka, in April 2022, after receiving requests that they have a critical shortage of life-saving drugs. We received lists of drugs and found that critically needed Cardiac and Oncology medicines (such as the chemo drug paclitaxel, which we gave to the Avissawella hospital, and the mandatory anti-cancer drug filgrastim, which we denoted to the Rathnapura hospital) among the most depleted. Also scarce were anti-hypertension drugs, drugs for diabetes patients, antibiotics, and anti-rabies injections.
With the help of CUFSAA-NA members, their friends and family, we donated over Rs. 4.5 million worth of medical supplies, approximately (Equivalent to USD 12,800). Hospitals at Gampaha, Karapitiya. Homagama, Avissawella, Rathnapura, Horana, and the Ministry of Health, Medical Supplies Division were our primary recipients. Dr. Asoka Ramanayake from Sri Lanka helped coordinate this project for CUFSAA-NA. Due to her excellent support, we were able to deliver medicine quickly to hospitals which may have helped save patients’ lives.
CUFSAA-NA also collaborated on a project where medical support was directly delivered to Sri Lanka, which is crucial at this time when the country is facing a critical dollar crisis. CUFSAA-NA participated in a joint venture with “The Medical Help Sri Lanka” to donate a total of 5000 triple blood bags to the Sri Lanka Blood bank. The Medical Help Sri Lanka agreed to coordinate the effort to get a month’s supply of blood bags to be delivered to Sri Lanka, working with donors from the USA, Canada, and Australia. Those groups are the Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team, Medical help Sri Lanka Team, Georgia Buddhist Vihara, Tharana Foundation, and Colombo University Faculty of Science Alumni Association. The bags were delivered to the Sri Lankan Blood bank on July 06, 2022.
CUFSAA would like to extend its deep appreciation to its members and well-wishers for stepping up to save Sri Lankan lives once more. We have saved lives again thanks to your generous support and compassionate spirit! Thank you!
Please visit CUFSAA-NA Medical Supplies Project Page (https://www.cufsaa.com/medsupplies/) for additional information about the project as well as to contribute your generous donations to the project.
Polypropylene Suture Boxes donated to Homagama Hospital (May 17, 2022)
We donated 07 Polypropylene Suture boxes to Homagama Hospital at a cost of Rs. 438,750.00 on May 17th 2022. Listed below please find couple of pictures of the donation.
Three medications donated to Teaching Hospital Ratnapura (May 09, 2022)
• Thank you for your contributions making it possible for CUFSAA -NA to donate three medications to Teaching Hospital – Ratnapura at a cost of Rs. 1,194,800.00 on May 09th 2022. Listed below please find a letter of appreciation and a picture of the donation.
My dear Donors,
I am extremely thankful to your generous donation of following items to Teaching Hospital Ratnapura
IV Meropenum 1g 100 vials
IV central 1g 200 vials
IV cefotaxime 1g 200 vials
Your contribution and helping hand to Fellow Sri Lankans at this critical juncture is commendable.I have no words to thank you for your generosity and hope you would continuously support us.
Thank you
Dr Deeptha Wickramaratne, MBBS MD FACP FCCP
Consultant Physician – TH Ratnapura
Medical Supplies to Sri Lanka – Project Update # 1 (May 04, 2022)
Dear CUFSAA member,
We are happy to let you know that we have started providing relief to the medical supplies shortage currently unfolding in Sri Lanka in order to save lives.
We are able to do that thanks to the generous contributions made by our members in a timely fashion. First, we would like to gratefully acknowledge your contributions received so far!
Again, our modus operandi, as was done successfully during the COVID epidemic, is to identify the specific needs of different hospitals and deliver the supplies directly to them, rather than sending them to a central organization. This way we ensure that we reach the most needed.
We list below the contributions we have made in less than five days.
• Physicians at the Avissawella hospital faced an acute shortage of the anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel. In typical style, CUFSAA stepped in and, within three days, delivered 22 injections of the drug (plus an equal amount of the Sodium Chloride injection) to the hospital directly. We are attaching some pictures of the delivery to this email. CUFSAA spent Rs 514,500.00 to purchase these medicines to the hospital. We hear that the cancer patients at this hospital are incredibly grateful for our timely generosity.
• We also donated 24 vials of the anti-cancer drug, filgrastim, to the Ratnapura hospital at the cost of Rs 123,728.00, as the hospital was in dire need of this medication.
• Just 24 hours ago, we found out about a critical shortage of glucose test strips at the Homagama hospital. We are happy to inform you that we have already purchased 1,000 strips for Rs.76,142.00. Tuesday, May 3, being a public holiday in Sri Lanka, they were delivered to the hospital the following day, May 04.
• We also learned that several hospitals are in grave need of cardiac drugs and antibiotics. As we speak, we are looking into the most efficient way to purchase and deliver these drugs.
Just as we did during the COVID pandemic last summer, we have stepped in to save lives again. We were able to do that simply because of your compassion and your generosity. This email is an update on our first few activities, which unfolded within days. Our executive committee is working closely with the medical personnel in Sri Lanka to find out the optimal manner in which we can directly contribute to the hospitals. We are writing to you to continue making your generous contributions to keep on saving lives during this time when our fellow Sri Lankans are being strangled due to the foreign currency shortage and the sky-high inflation.
We will continue to keep you updated on our progress. In the meantime, we need your help to continue our efforts in providing life saving drugs and supplies to Sri Lankan hospitals. Please support us by making your contributions using one of the following methods [Donation Links are below].
Thank you for your support and generosity!
Medical supplies to Sri Lanka – Initial Request (April 20, 2022)
Dear CUFSAA member,
We are sure all of you are fully aware of Sri Lankans’ dire state in obtaining critically needed medication and medical equipment. The problem is twofold. On the one hand, the lack of US Dollar reserves has impacted importing critically required drugs and medical equipment. On the other hand, the sudden rise of the Rupee to US Dollar exchange rate has raised the price of imported medications to the extent that patients can no longer afford life-saving drugs. Many medical professionals and CUFSAA members have asked us to intervene in this humanitarian crisis and save lives.
You will surely remember how CUFSAA’s intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic saved many lives. We were able to save these lives simply due to your compassionate and generous support. CUFSAA, in association with the Faculty of Science, plans to provide the maximum possible help, similar to the COVID project. CUFSSA is currently exploring the optimal manner in which we can help save the lives of dying Sri Lankans in an ethical, rapid yet effective, and transparent way (for example, unlike donating medical equipment, providing medicine is more complicated due to strict regulatory guidelines).
We are fully aware of the political overtones surrounding the situation in Sri Lanka and promise to remain independent and strive only to support helpless patients. We are working on identifying the hospitals in dire need of medical supplies to help them directly. While we are actively working on establishing an effective mechanism, CUFSAA seeks your help at this critical hour to start a fundraiser among our members to help our fellow Sri Lankans. We will assure you that we will only use your funds to provide relief robustly and effectively through a methodology grounded in a solid ethical foundation. In the event we were unable to find such a mechanism, we will reach back to you to seek your opinion on how best to use your contributions. In order to effectively implement that, please let us know your contact information (e.g., email address) when you make your contribution.
Initial Project duration is six-months (to Oct. 2022) and our immediate target is to raise US$ 20,000.
We need to raise this money within weeks to provide the immediate medical supplies need. So please step in and contribute generously. Thank you!