Help Save Lives – Support PRASAD’s Mobile Hospital
I am reaching out to you with an urgent appeal to support PRASAD Chikitsa, our organization committed to addressing the healthcare needs of underserved communities
Stories
PRASAD PROGRAMS | INDIA | HEALTHCARE
General Healthcare
Mobile Hospital
265,000 Adivasi men, women and children live across 225 remote villages in the rural Tansa Valley. Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and lack of healthcare are widespread issues in these communities. Many have no access to transportation, and even if they do, distance, cost, and time to get to a clinic on dirt roads in questionable repair can be prohibitive.
Launched in 1978, the Shree Muktananda Mobile Hospital, one of PRASAD Chikitsa’s first healthcare initiatives in the Tansa Valley and one of the first mobile hospitals in Maharashtra State, removes many of these barriers.
The Mobile Hospital brings services right to the heart of Adivasi villages. Villagers receive health education and screening, and treatment for chronic diseases such as tuberculosis, malnutrition, and heart disease, and referrals to eye surgery camps. Healthcare workers also do community outreach to ensure all who need treatment know how to access it.
To date, the Mobile Hospital has reached more than 1 million people living in remote villages who would not otherwise have access to healthcare. The Mobile Hospital provides services six days a week to 6 villages and expects 6,000 visits per year.
Health Center
Located in Ganeshpuri, the heart of PRASAD’s service area with many points of access, the Anukampaa Family Health Center provides general healthcare services and ongoing treatment for chronic diseases. It is also home to PRASAD’s Reproductive and Child Health, School Health, Nutrition, Eye Care, Dental and our nationally recognized Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS programs.
The Center’s General Outpatient Department is open six days a week. Visiting experts in various fields regularly provide specialized services, including psychiatry, women’s health, and cancer screenings, to name a few. The Center handles approximately 45,000 visits annually.
Tuberculosis Program
Despite being a preventable and curable disease, Tuberculosis (TB) claims a life every minute in India and accounts for more deaths than any other infectious disease. TB is highly transmissible, and in the Tansa Valley, TB infection rates are high. In addition to the obvious health impact, a prolonged illness can financially ruin a family on poverty’s edge because of lost income due to illness. This is why PRASAD Chikitsa has made fighting TB a priority. In fact, doctors at the Health Center have achieved a tuberculosis cure rate of 95%, surpassing the Indian government’s benchmark of 85%.
The program is successful because of its holistic approach to treatment. In addition to medication, patients receive counseling, protein supplements, and multivitamins, and healthcare workers make regular home visits to monitor symptoms and improvement.
In 2010, the World Health Organization and India’s National TB Elimination Program recognized PRASAD Chikitsa as an Accredited Microscopy and Treatment Center for testing and treating patients across the region.
Enhancing Childhood Nutrition
Although there has been strong economic growth over the past 20 years, India is still home to 33% of the world’s malnourished children. In the
Restoring Sight, Health & Hope
For the last year, since her husband and son stopped caring for her, 70-year-old Shailabai has been living as a beggar at the Akoli Kund
