A Healthcare Call by Ponty Chadha Foundation

At a time when health services are skewed towards urban dwellers that have access to 66% of available hospital beds in the country, parts of rural India cope up on their own. With inadequate healthcare facilities and infrastructure in rural parts, studies reveal that over three-fifth of village population travels over 5km on average just to find a healthcare utility.

Insufficiency in public healthcare leads such people to set hope towards private healthcare but it results in affordability issues. Aware of this anomaly, Ponty Chadha Foundation (PCF) organizes camps in remote regions across the country to help create self-awareness and broader national perspective.

The latest camp for this endeavour took place on 29th October in Raghunathpur and addressed general health problems faced by the villagers. The event was organized in collaboration with Indo German Hospital and administered free advice, aid, and guidance on safe healthcare-related practices.

To hold a large number of attendees, the premises of a local school were used. Proceedings began at 10 in the morning and continued till 1 pm.  While the doctors and paramedics conducted health checks, the volunteers of Ponty Chadha Foundation controlled crowd and logistics management.

Villagers were guided through a check point where they were provided tokens after they had filled out OPD cards. The event was well-executed right through as the teams of doctors, paramedics, and the Foundation displayed excellent coordination.

The ensemble of over a hundred and twenty two was treated for common healthcare problems that had before been untreated. When it came out that quite a few of them exhibited signs of body pain and Asthma, the most vulnerable were referred to Indo German Hospital for further treatment.

The camp was part of the drive Ponty Chadha Foundation undertakes in different regions across India to provide aid and bring to the forefront issues of local and national significance.

Website: http://thepontychadhafoundation.com/

Ponty Chadha Foundation Organizes Healthcare Camp in Village Kachera

The Ponty Chadha Foundation (PCF) organized a free healthcare camp in the village of Kachera on November 12th 2014 which was held from 10 am to 1 pm at the premises of a village temple and attracted huge gathering. .

The camp lasted nearly three hours with suitable arrangements for seating for the crowd which had begun building up early.  A pre-examination process was put in place where tokens were assigned to patients after getting their details on an OPD card. A separate counter for collecting medicines was also set up.

During the examination, doctors found vulnerability against anemia and gynecological issues was rather high among the villagers, and some of them were referred for further examination and treatment to the Indo German Hospital.

As one of the doctors from the camp observed, “There is a section of people who suffer from serious health issues but never go to a doctor because of lack of proper facilities. If they get early diagnosis, they can prevent a life-threatening situation.”

The day started building up early and when the examination was complete by 1 PM, 143 members from 600 families had enlisted free healthcare.

The camp was held in collaboration with Indo-German Hospital with the objective of raising awareness on general healthcare. Upon interacting with some attendees who had attended the camp, PCF volunteers found the villagers with greater understanding of issues they previously had little knowledge of.

Talking about the initiative Mr. Manjir Ghosh, Head CSR, Wave Group & CEO Ponty Chadha Foundation said, "It was the vision of our late Chairman Mr. Ponty Chadha to provide proper diagnostic facilities to the poor and needy people. He believed that lack of such facilities only lead to their poor heath and so proper diagnosis is crucial. Our attempts are wholeheartedly and sincerely directed towards addressing these grassroots problems wherein people do not get medical assistance due to financial constraints.”

Ponty Chadha Foundation works towards enabling equitable healthcare across all sections and demography. Its initiatives span special child education and healthcare and continue to spread awareness on these issues among the rural populace.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation: Curbing Child Malnutrition in India

The common perception about malnutrition in India being primarily a lack of food issue has been straightened out by the recent World Bank findings which state that lack of a central policy for food dissemination and low focus on quality have been instrumental in India lacking behind some sub Saharan African nations on the prevalence of underweight children.

Malnutrition in children is also as rampant because of inappropriate primary care facilities, high predisposition towards infection, and lacking in feeding and care, in the first few years of a child. This puts children in India, particularly from the economically marginalized classes, at the greatest risk of having to bear long-term malnutrition consequences.

India's central, and the most comprehensive policy response to child malnutrition, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), has not been as effective in controlling child malnutrition due to a number of reasons.

Firstly, the deployment for targeting greater mass coverage and the core focus of the program being children above three years of age have rendered the ICDS widely unyielding. Children under two years of age have been proven the most vulnerable, but this group is not what the ICDS is particularly aimed at.

Demographic and socioeconomic variables also play an important role, but as per the World Bank, greater damage is being caused by a lack of established food supply system and quality control. India produces enough food for its internal consumption, but is unable to feed its poor because of an imbalance between supply and production.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation has been drawing the nation’s attention on this front through its various initiatives directed at plugging the supply chain gaps. Its pilot food banking project in Delhi NCR has been acknowledged by the India Food Banking Network (IFBN) for being a charity-driven food chain that procures food directly from government funded agencies and ensures it gets delivered the quickest to the needy in Noida and Ghaziabad.

Malnutrition Remains A Concerning Cause For India

For India, a strong, able bodied workforce that can drive production, increase exports, and strengthen the nation economically is a crucial growth factor. However, with the World Bank malnutrition findings, rating India worse than some of the poorest nations worldwide,and stating that the prevalence of underweight children in India to be higher than sub-Saharan nations, India’s growth aspirations stand severely challenged.

A huge malnourished section is a big impediment for any country and can potentially stall growth by creating an underproductive, undernourished workforce. India, in particular, has a culturally strong labour force, and the country needs it, to keep pace with the growing economy and support expanding infrastructure.

The fight against malnutrition has been a prolonged one for India. It is almost since independence that the country has been faced with malnutrition, and even with a number of schemes and programs being devised,checking the malnutrition curve has been a tall order.

According to the World Bank, India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is one of the most comprehensive and well-placed schemes to trigger a change, but needs a different implementation approach. Instead of focusing on gaining demographic coverage alone, the ICDS must be looked at in a way that promotes faster food delivery, nutrition control, and other core fundamentals.

The challenges for the undernourished set in, as early as birth, with as many as one in three newborns underweight, a majority on account of the malnourished mother. If not cared for, such children are highly likely to develop cognitive and physical disorders arising from the effects of stunting and wasting.

Serving hopeto the millions of malnourished in India is the Ponty Chadha Foundation which was established to further the vision of philanthropy. The foundation works towardhelping the weaker sections of society, through charity-driven socioeconomic measures.

Together, with the acclaimed India FoodBanking Network (IFBN), the foundation introduced the concept of the food bank in Noida and Ghaziabad wherein a chain of donors is used for procurement of food supplies delivereddirectly to those most in need, thereby eliminating supply chain delays.

The Ponty Chadha Foundation also offers free medical aid to the poor in 18 villages around Noida and Ghaziabad by periodically-organized free health checks and camps, with the aim to reach out to those socially marginalised and under-served sections of society in a short span of time. It also aims to sensitize the youth towards the needs of the poor by getting them involved with the Foundation’s schemes and programs.