自動三輪タクシーを「救急車」に、貧しいコロナ患者を搬送　インド

【ボパールＡＦＰ＝時事】インドのオートリキシャ（自動三輪タクシー）運転手、モハマド・ジャベド・カーンさん（３４）は、貧しくて救急車を呼べない人々が新型コロナウイルスに感染した親を背負って病院に連れていくのを見た時、助けなくてはいけないと思った。（写真はオートリキシャを改造した「救急車」の横で、電話をする運転手のモハマド・ジャベド・カーンさん。インド中部ボパールで）
　中部マディヤプラデシュ州の州都ボパールで働くカーンさんは、妻の宝飾品を売って愛車を小型救急車に改造し、酸素ボンベや酸素飽和度測定器などの医療品を積み込んだ。
　インドで新型ウイルスの感染が急拡大し、医療体制が限界に達する中、カーンさんのような人々が、地元コミュニティーの支援に名乗りを上げている。
　カーンさんは、「重症患者の搬送には酸素吸入が必要なことから、オートリキシャを救急車に改造したらどうかと思いついた。救急車ほど広くはないが、確実に命を救うことができる」とＡＦＰに語った。
　「救急車を呼ぶにも、５０００～１万ルピー（約７３５０～１万４７００円）かかる。貧しい人には支払えない。ましてや新型ウイルスの流行で、ほとんどの人が無収入になっている」
　酸素ボンベと酸素飽和度測定器は寄付されたもので、使い方は医師に教わった。「大勢が支援を申し出て、流行が収まるまで運転を続けるようにと言ってくれた」とカーンさんは語った。
　「こうしていられるのも、非常に多くの人が支援してくれたおかげだ。私一人ではできなかった」
　国内メディア、インディア・トゥデーによると、カーンさんはマディヤプラデシュ州のロックダウン（都市封鎖）中、緊急許可を得ずに営業していた疑いで、警察に摘発された。しかし、ソーシャルメディアで非難の声が上がると、警察はこれを取り消し、カーンさんに特別許可を出した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/06-12:31）

When Indian auto-rickshaw driver Mohammad Javed Khan saw people carrying their coronavirus-stricken parents to hospitals on their backs as they were too poor to afford an ambulance, he knew he had to help.
Khan, a 34-year-old driver in the central Indian city of Bhopal, sold his wife's jewellery and converted his three-wheeled vehicle into a small ambulance, fitting it out with an oxygen cylinder, an oximeter to measure oxygen levels in the blood, and other medical supplies.
As India grapples with a harrowing Covid-19 crisis that has seen infections skyrocket and the healthcare system stretched to breaking point, individuals like Khan have stepped forward to try and help their local communities.
A critically ill patient cannot be brought to the hospital without oxygen support. So, I thought, why not turn my three-wheeler into an ambulance. It's not as spacious as an ambulance, but it can surely save lives, Khan told AFP.
I see young people struggling without oxygen. Even when they call ambulances, the ambulances are charging 5,000-10,000 rupees ($70-140). How will a poor person be able to afford it? Especially during this pandemic when most people don't have an income?
A donor provided him with a cylinder and another with the oximeter.
A doctor taught Khan how to use the cylinder and oximeter to safely supply the lifesaving gas to patients as he drove them to a hospital.
Many people have come forward to help me with donations and have requested me to continue driving around until the pandemic is over, he said.
It is thanks to the help of so many people, I am able to do this. I couldn't have done this on my own.
Khan briefly ran into trouble with the authorities when police charged him for operating his auto-rickshaw without an emergency permit during Madhya Pradesh state's virus lockdown, India Today reported.
But after an outcry on social media, police withdrew the charges and issued him with a special pass, the broadcaster added.
Madhya Pradesh, like many other states, has witnessed a spike in cases in recent weeks that had led to shortages of oxygen and other critical medical supplies.
Crematoriums and burial grounds have also struggled to cope with the influx of bodies.
The state reported more than 12,000 new infections on Monday, with one in five people tested receiving positive results.