Akash Neem Medical Center – India
Our mission for building an Akash Neem Medical Center in India is to encourage the development of innovative health care delivery and education systems in rural communities surrounding the Satya-Jyoti Trust.
It is to be our pilot medical outreach project.
Satya-Jyoti Trust, a non-profit organization, plans to start a Community Health and Education Project to serve rural communities in Alwar district of Rajasthan. These communities have no access to healthcare services – the closest medical help is 14 km away in the village of Tapukra. However, the health facility in Tapukra itself is minimally functional, does not have a doctor available most often, is unhygienic and does not meet minimum safety standards such as the use of disposable surgical gloves.
This part of Rajasthan is extremely poor and literacy rates are among the lowest in the country. Coupled with
strong gender and caste biases in Rajasthan, poverty and illiteracy cause a huge adverse impact of women’s health in these communities. This in turn causes a negative spiral of maternal mortality, infant mortality and child malnutrition.
It is estimated that for every 100,000 live births, 407 pregnant women die every year in India due to causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The major causes of these deaths are Anaemia, Haemorrhage (both Ante and Post-Partum), Toxaemia during pregnancy, Obstructed Labour, Puerperal Sepsis (Infections after delivery) and unsafe Abortions. Complications associated with pregnancies are not always predictable. Therefore, it is critical to provide emergency obstetric care as close to the community as possible.
In the local communities around Satya-Jyoti, the most common health issues are maternal health, neonatal care, water-borne diseases, skin infections and malaria. Most of these issues can be addressed through community outreach and education. However, there is no community health worker provided from the government (called Anganwadi worker in India) in these communities.
