Do Good, Feel Good
ON THE FRONT LINE While most were quarantining at home during the height of the pandemic, Dr. Rajeev Fernando was at the forefront of the world’s biggest health crisis in the past 100 years. He shares his inspiring journey with Spotlight. On the ground in Kyiv, Ukraine Dr. Rajeev Fernando
In late 2019, I began following a mysterious new pneumonia out of Wuhan, China. At the time, there were no documented cases of human-to-human transmission. I wanted to learn more about this novel virus, and the only way to do this effectively was to travel to Wuhan. There were only 48 cases in the world at the time, and after my investigation, I concluded that there was, in fact, human-to-human transmission. Designs for a cause After I returned from China, I began spreading awareness about the danger of the new virus, now called COVID-19. Once the first case in Seattle was diagnosed—a traveler from Wuhan—I knew it was a matter of time before cases exploded in the United States. In reality, the went to NYC to work the night virus was very likely spreading shifts. COVID-19 was killing subclinically earlier than this. people mercilessly, and I wanted New York City soon became to do everything I could to help. the epicenter, and cases quickly Long Island is my home, disseminated to Long Island. I and I wanted to keep our was recruited as an infectiouscommunity safe. The mayor of diseases specialist to work Southampton, Jesse Warren, in New York City on a FEMA reached out to see how we contract. Community means could provide safe, reliable, and everything to me, so I ended up updated information to our working as director of infectious neighbors. We started our daily diseases at Southampton Instagram Live Q&A sessions Hospital during the day and discussing new insights about 22 \ Memorial Day 2022 \ Spotlight
the virus. Then 102.7 FM followed, and we did morning updates on the drive. LI News Radio and News 12 also joined. This proved to be a catalyst to spreading my information around the world, from the BBC, all the way to South Korea and Japan. I still needed to do more. My charity, CHIRAJ, started manufacturing our six-layer face masks, which were distributed across the U.S. and then subsequently to 36 countries around the world. We focused on impoverished countries and to date have donated more than 70,000 face masks. We started an emergency field hospital when the Delta variant emerged out of India, offering free care to all. Even though many restrictions
have been relaxed, COVID-19 is not going away. There will be ongoing mutations, which will spur novel variants, so we need to remain vigilant. However, I feel the worst is behind us. Fast-forward, I wanted to further my education in preparedness for future pandemic planning. I accepted a fellowship position in disaster medicine at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School in Boston. Social causes are central and when time permits, I design clothes that have supported the Stop Asian Hate, Black Lives Matter, and LGBT+ movements. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine on a large scale. I was on the ground on the 28th to volunteer as a physician. Through my charity, we were able to distribute free medicine and supplies and take it to the places most in need. We worked through Russian missile strikes to get our supplies to army hospitals in Kyiv. Humanity must prevail. We have a medical clinic to help refugees in Kyiv with a focus on women’s health, gender-based violence, and PTSD. I’m asking for help to help run this critical refugee clinic, which will save lives in this unfortunate population. Disaster preparedness and global surveillance of emerging infectious diseases are critical in mitigating ahead of future pandemics. Should this occur, it’ll be an honor to return to the front lines and serve. For more information about how you can help, e-mail me at rajeevsantiago@gmail.com and see our humanitarian work at chiraj.org. T
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BY DR. RAJEEV FERNANDO
