On any given week, approximately 1.2 million foreigners travel to the United States for business, to visit family, or tourism. When COVID-19 hit, U.S. flights shut down so quickly that an estimated 2-5 million foreigners were stuck in the U.S.
Given the pandemic, health is an important concern for this group, not just for COVID, but also trying to get access to prescriptions and regular health care without U.S. health insurance. Working with embassies and consulates across the U.S. the IASA (Indian American Surgeons Association) has been working to help treat this vulnerable population. Particularly as telehealth has opened up, doctors from all over the country can virtually meet with stranded international travelers and help treat common health concerns and fill prescriptions.
This group is self-funded and as little as $100-500 with free medical advice to free samples could help provide quality health care to those stuck in the US for the foreseeable future. Physicians from California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Phoenix and Nevada are already seeing more than 50 stranded patients a day and they’re looking to expand their services to those stuck on the East Coast.
“Our group of physicians has seen a very unusual surge of elderly patients with chronic medical issues on life-saving drugs for heart and diabetes stuck in the US, with lack of medicine and lack of care providers,” Vyas says.
Dr. Dinesh Vyas
Surgeon, Chair, Department of Surgery, California North State University
Vice President, IASA
dineshvyas@yahoo.com
(314) 680-1347
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