Published on 12:27 AM, April 06, 2020

YY Goshti supports healthcare professionals amid coronavirus pandemic

Photo: Courtesy

In these dire times, Bangladesh lacks proper healthcare equipment and necessary protective gear for doctors and other medical professionals.

Several private organisations are working tirelessly to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in hospitals and medical centers. Though gloves, masks and gowns among other things are being produced at a rapid speed, the face shield, one of the most necessary items to prevent infection, is not yet in the market.

To that end, YY Goshti, the country's first social business incubator, is producing 3D printed face shields, in collaboration with EMK Centre and Wizkit. EMK Centre and Wizkit's 3D printers are being used to produce these shields, while Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation has helped in designing the blueprints.

The first batch of these shields was distributed to Spreeha Bangladesh Healthcare Centre and AmarLab, recently. Spreeha Bangladesh is serving underprivileged patients in urban slum areas and AmarLab is conducting home screening tests for COVID-19, along with other pathology tests.

"We will provide these face shields to Kurmitola General Hospital and BSMMU, along with other public hospitals," shares Shazeeb M Khairul Islam, Founder and Managing Director of YY Goshti.

YY Goshti also plans to provide clean drinking water in Rayerbazar,  during this time of crisis.

YY Goshti has recently started working as the technology partner of CholoShobai. Their design consultancy wing Jamroll has developed the technology platform for CholoShobai, which has created an online crowdfunding platform that enables anyone across Bangladesh to raise funds. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, via the Internet. Although crowdfunding is a popular approach in other countries, Bangladesh has yet to explore this idea.

"We feel that the funds raised through a transparent digital system from local citizens will help organisations and individuals to accelerate the good work they're doing to fight the Covid-19 crisis," says Shazeeb.

CholoShobai also incorporated a payment gateway in the system, which will allow people to transfer their money digitally.

Follow the link to the crowd funding platform for donation on https://choloshobai.com/ and contact the YY Goshti team at info@yy.ventures for further queries.