How AWL Helped India Combat the Second Wave of Pandemic

The COVID-19 outbreak started on December 31, 2019, when China confronted a massive number of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan City and informed the World Health Organisation about it. Subsequently, the infection spread to more countries ultimately affecting the rest of the world. The WHO then declared it a pandemic. When the coronavirus pandemic started hitting countries early in 2020, experts wondered if there would be waves of cases, a pattern seen in other pandemics.

Like several parts of the world, India has been experiencing a high surge in the number of coronavirus infections since early 2021 resulting in a “second wave” of the pandemic. The second wave started in India from March 2021, and in the month of April, the highest number of cases were recorded in India.

The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India left millions scrambling for oxygen tanks and hospital beds. As India faced an unprecedented and rapid second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak with more than 3 million active cases, there was considerable pressure on the healthcare infrastructure as well as on the medical capacities and resources which resulted in hospitals facing an acute shortage of health care equipment and lack of beds, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, and critical drugs like Remdesivr and Tocilizumab, which are used in the prevention and treatment the disease.

To help India combat the looming threat of the second wave of the coronavirus, more than 40 countries, including the USA, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Russia, Iraq, and many others came forward to provide India with the essential medical and key pharmaceutical products, mainly oxygen-related equipment and drugs, that the country urgently required to battle the unprecedented rise in Covid-19 cases. Overall this time, AWL, India's leading supply chain, and logistics company has stood in the forefront to streamline and effectively distribute medical aid across the healthcare systems of the country. AWL India in collaboration with the Government of India has established an efficient and sustainable oxygen supply chain management across the entire country.

How Aid Poured In From More Than 40 Countries To Help India Eliminate The Second Wave of COVID-19?

Amidst India's battle with the devastating second wave of coronavirus, several countries are rushing critical emergency use equipment to enable India to counter the COVID-19’s deadly second wave. A miscellany from the Ministry of External Affairs indicated that various countries are extending a helping hand by sending hundreds of oxygen concentrators, respirators, and large quantities of liquid oxygen to help ameliorate the arduous situation in India. These foreign nations have been sending critical medical and pharmaceutical supplies like oxygen cylinders, oxygen generators, cryogenic tankers, ventilators, electric syringe pushers, respirators, medicines like Remdsiver and Tocilizumab, BiPAP machines, pulse meters, PPE coveralls, liquid oxygen containers, protective equipment like surgical masks, N-95, P2 & KN95 masks, Flaviparivir, and gowns.

The foreign aid campaign to support and strengthen India's battle against the coronavirus pandemic appeared to intensify with more and more countries joining the efforts.

AWL along with the central government and other administrative bodies efficiently handled and managed the handover of the critical medical supplies, equipment, and medicines and streamlined mobilization of health resources to the locations and systems that need them the most. AWL dispatched and distributed the cargoes promptly via air carriers, freight forwarding, and multiple modes to the recipient institutions in numerous parts of the country in coordination with the government agencies. As soon as the consignment reached, the information and alerts through our interactive dashboard were quickly enacted to the empowered committees. In conformation with the health ministry officials, the cold chain cargo was then distributed and immediately dispatched to various places.

How AWL Is Ensuring A Streamlined and Systemic Distribution of Foreign Aid

AWL has efficiently worked round the clock to effectively deliver and transport the cargoes to the remotest areas within the shortest span of time. AWL has played a key role in the distribution and storage of foreign aid through its well-established temperature-sensitive distribution systems, using cutting-edge technology and an extensive logistics network. The distribution process begins from the point as soon as the flight with medical supplies reaches India. At AWL, our process begins with the starting point of unloading the air and ship carriers like INS Kolkata, INS Talwar, INS Kochi, INS Airavat, INS Shradul, INS Tabar, INS Trikand, INS Netaji, that carried the medical supplies including the oxygen generators plants, oxygen cylinders, and medicines along with the ventilators and ends with last-mile delivery.

With the help of AWL's excellent capabilities, world-class infrastructure, robust monitoring, and full preparedness, we have ensured the quality and safety of the critical and emergency load coming by the ships likeINS Airavat, INS Shradul, INS Talwar, INS Kochi, INS Netaji, and other aircraft's and start the distribution as it lands on the different bases through airlift and multimode transportation like railcars, trucks, aircraft, chassis, and shipping containers.

This has been done through careful planning of every segment involved in the entire cargo supply chain to ensure full preparedness and is transported in line with international regulatory and manufacturers’ requirements, at controlled temperatures, and without delay.

AWL has been handling the task of managing the flow of massive foreign by leveraging technology to make the process transparent and quick. We make use of next-gen technologies like RFID tags, data loggers, 2D bar-codes, detectors, temperature monitors, GPS beacon, interactive dashboard CHAKSU that enables monitoring with key performance indicators, record-keeping, the digital infrastructure that enables real-time visibility, and end-to-end vaccine alerts with a notification engine. Our notification system makes it possible to send and receive alerts as the critical medical cargoes cross each station and travel along the supply chain network allowing each entity like healthcare administration, pharmaceutical distribution, to accurately monitor and easily communicate.

With the helped of our advanced and progressive cold chain logistics and supply chain solutions, we have empowered the tracking, storage, and distribution of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals and have minimized the errors, and make the cargo traceable at every point. At AWL, we believe in empowering the nation by providing the best-in-class logistics and supply chain network. We've been supporting the healthcare system of India to combat the deadly coronavirus with our extensive supply chain network and advanced solutions. We aim to provide our best in order to help India defeat the pandemic.