Ponty Chadha Foundation -Seeking Answers to Some Long-Standing Problems

Despite being one of the largest exporters of pharmaceuticals, India continues to harbor healthcare issues especially among rural communities. With incidences of disease appearing to be twice in rural areas as compared to its urban counterpart, the people of rural India are denied access to basic and apt healthcare.

Waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, typhoid, hepatitis, worm infestations, measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, pneumonia, respiratory infections, and reproductive tract infections dominate the morbidity patterns in rural areas. Moreover, non-communicable diseases such as cancer, blindness, hypertension, diabetes, HIV/AIDS are simultaneously proliferating at an alarming rate.  Seeking answers to some long-standing problems and realising the need to improve the prevailing health status in rural areas nationwide is Ponty Chadha Foundation, the CSR arm of the Wave Group, which has been making efforts to plug some of the known gaps to rural healthcare. In collaboration with a reputed healthcare service provider, the Indo German Hospital, the Foundation has been bringing the poor and marginalised to the centre of healthcare policies.
 
The Foundation has already covered several villages including—Gujjargarhi, Dinanathpur, Shadipur Chiddoli, Hathipur, Mehrauli, Shekhpur and Khichra, where it conducted health camps to boost the quality of life of its beneficiaries.

Health Camp Observations: 

1. It was found that a majority of the rural populace is faced with common health concerns such as -respiratory issues, cataract, arthritis, low vision issues, and hearing impairment. 
2. A major chunk of womenfolk overlook their reproductive health due to sheer negligence or lack of family support.
3. Majority of them overlook health concerns either due to utter ignorance or lack of healthcare facilities. 

About Ponty Chadha Foundation:

Rural healthcare is one of the key areas of social welfare undertaken by the Ponty Chadha Foundation, the CSR subsidiary of the Wave Group. Under Vice Chairman Manpreet Chadha (Monty Chadha) the Wave group has gone on to become India’s leading realty conglomerates.

Hathipur’s Health Camp Report by the Ponty Chadha Foundation

One third of the Indian population, and most of its poor, resides in remote areas across the nation. Malnourishment and deplorable hygiene conditions give rise to chronic ailments and its ill-effects are disproportionately witnessed in the poorest of rural areas in our society, with an evident rise in illness and mortality rates.

Out of all forms of disparities prevailing in our society, inequality in healthcare is undeniably the most inhuman one. Out of sheer ignorance and lack of dedicated infrastructure, the health centres in rural areas (if any) are minimally staffed and lack even the basic diagnostic equipment.

Identifying the fact that the rural populace is forced to deal with their own share of larger, and often unrecognised, health problems, Ponty Chadha Foundation collaborated with the Indo German Hospital and organised a health camp in one such village- Hathipur. It was found that villagers here had never received due medical assistance in any form. Thus finally, the health camp, organised on 18th March, 2015, benefited most of them. The event took off early in the morning as the villagers started queuing up at 10:00AM by the primary school in the village, where the camp was set up.

The propulsion at the health camp was steady since the early hours of day and as expected, the third consecutive medical camp at Hathipur drew a good assemblage till the camp finally concluded at 1:00PM in the afternoon.

The entire village was comprehensively covered and a total of 155 patients from 400 families were examined during the camp. Every villager was guided through a common check point where they had to show their registration details prior to seeing the doctor. During checkup, it was found that majority of them were prone to joint and gastro problems. Those who needed extended treatment were referred to the Indo German Hospital.

While the dedicated team of doctors ensured that the villagers were thoroughly examined and guided about the imperativeness of health and hygiene, other volunteers ensured that the villagers could make the best of the opportunity. As a result of their collective efforts, the event went by systematically.

It is rather surprising to know that women in the village ignore problems related to gynecology due to lack of knowledge and understanding and support from their family members. However, the medical professionals and the Ponty Chadha Foundation’s volunteerseducated them about the imperativeness of healthcare and the long-term effects that could aggravate due to sheer negligence.