Narsingh Swain Memorial Trust
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Mission Statement
The N. Swain Memorial Trust was set up as a charitable Trust in 2001 to treat physically disabled persons who could not afford the complex reconstructive surgery required to enable them to lead a normal life. From 2001 to 2013, the Trust had conducted about 600 free reconstructive surgeries for the poor and trained 300 young doctors in low cost, innovative Basic Surgical Skills workshops. Aakar Asha Hospital, a 55000 sq ft, 130 bed hospital was set up in 2013 October to fulfill the mission of the Trust. Disabilities treated include those after birth, burns, road accidents, upper limb paralysis and other disorders. It is fully equipped with a Diagnostics facility, modern operation rooms (with operating microscope power drills, etc), ICU, ER area, Rehab facility, and Dormitory accommodation. The hospital runs an active education and training program for the community and medical personnel. Shortly, the Research Unit will be set up mainly directed at innovative product development for the physically disabled.
About This Cause
The Narasingh Swain Memorial Trust was established in September 2001, in an effort to enable the physically disabled in India through reconstructive surgery. The Trust was set up in the memory of Mr Narasingh Swain, chief of the Orissa Police (India) from 1974-1983, who was committed to social causes and worked tirelessly to make the state police people friendly and ushered in the first district level cooperative and housing societies for policemen. He initiated the Police kitchen which ran continuously for 100 days after floods or cyclones in a given area, apart from the search and rescue operations. The Trust started work in a modest way from the word go, treating physically disabled persons with grotesque burns deformities that were sent to us by fellow doctors. NGOs picked up the thread and started sending more such unfortunate patients free of cost. The first Hands on Minds on Basic Surgical Skills workshop for young doctors was conducted in December 2001. Came 2004 and we got in touch with the self help groups of disabled persons who had just been formed at the district level in Andhra Pradesh Thus was established a pathway for identification of physically disabled persons leading to screening, reconstructive surgery and follow up camps on an annual basis and surgery on weekends, till 2012. We had done more than 600 reconstructive surgeries by the time we built our own hospital in 2013. About 300 doctors had been trained in surgical skills in the creatively designed, highly interactive Basic Surgical Skills courses, using locally available materials as teaching aids (chicken skin, goat hooves and bovine intestine to simulate tissue for suturing and surgical manipulation). Location specific screening, identification and reconstructive surgery for physically disabled persons in the BOP segment had been done so far with short term follow-up, in a resource constrained environment. As more patients were treated, we realized the enormity of the problem of physical disability and the need to set up a separate institution for such treatment. We were fortunate in having 2 acres of prime land leased out to us at the end of 2009 by the 50 year old Shivananda Rehabilitation Home. We were supported by patrons and large organisations, government and private corporations, in building the 55,000 sq ft , 3 storied Aakar Asha hospital dedicated to the direct enablement of the physically disabled, and launching it in October 2013. With 12 years of experience in doing reconstructive surgery for 600 physically disabled persons, in remote locations, Aakar Asha migrated to its permanent location for better quality of services, with a clear-cut approach to the future. Vision: To enable the physically disabled persons in India to achieve a near normal quality of life through state of art reconstructive surgery, advanced rehabilitation medicine and cutting edge research. Mission: To set up centers of excellence to address the magnitude of physical disability by performing high quality reconstructive surgery, on a large scale, making it free or affordable, improving intensive and day care rehabilitation and designing cutting-edge research tools. Awareness of Aakar Asha’s services in far flung areas has resulted in flow of patients by word of mouth, even from government hospitals due to better quality of surgery and care, especially of the BOP segment. There is new interest from different organizations in collaborating with us in fulfilling our mission. In its pursuit of excellence and service to mankind, Aakar Asha has received several accolades and recognition in the field of social service. Felicitated by District Collector, Ranga Reddy District for successfully conducting free reconstructive surgery camp- 2004. Felicitated by SV Medical College, Mahabubnagar for successfully conducting free reconstructive surgery camp- 2006. Runner up at 2nd idea competition, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad - 2010. Aakar Asha Hospital is situated on a major highway, now in the centre of Hyderabad. It is a 130 bed hospital with 56 beds operational. It is fully equipped with a Diagnostics facility, modern operation rooms (with operating microscope, power drills, etc), Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Room area, a state-of-art rehabilitation facility, etc. A unique feature is the 52 bed dormitory accommodation for attendants of patients who come from far flung areas. Physical disability comprises 49% of all forms of disability (National Sample Survey Organization) and affects nearly 30 million Indians. Currently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment supports the physically disabled by economic empowerment, rights protection, improving access, etc. We consider physical disability as a primary health care problem and direct enablement through reconstructive surgery or physical rehabilitation as solutions. Aakar Asha looks upon physical disability as a functional limitation rather than disease, as indicated by the World Health Organization in its ICF classification. We have relentlessly pursued a problem solving approach of “Direct Enablement” through reconstructive surgery for the entire range of physical disability. This is a bold and dynamic approach to a fast changing scenario of disability, as recognized in developed countries. Public policy has so far focused on socio-economic empowerment, rights, access and medical relief in a limited way. Government institutions and Private setups, which are few, have addressed Loco-motor disability only. Loco-motor disability, as generally recognized, forms the tip of the iceberg of physical disability. The head and neck, upper and lower limbs and the rest of the body can be affected by a wide range of causes (congenital, burns, trauma etc) resulting in a large number of physical disabilities- the hidden iceberg. We do reconstructive surgery across a range of disciplines- Orthopedic, Plastic and Reconstructive, Cancer surgery, Pediatric Surgery and other disciplines where reconstructive surgery is required. The organization works closely with government organizations (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty – Disability component – for screening and identification of physically disabled persons), self-help groups, and many other stakeholders and partners with philanthropic institutions for subsidizing the cost of health care. Established as a one-of-its-kind organization, Aakar Asha hospital provides free reconstructive surgery for the poor. Disabilities treated include those after birth, burns and burns deformities, traumatic injuries after road or industrial accidents, benign and malignant tumors requiring reconstruction, upper limb paralysis and other disorders. Aakar Asha also trains young surgeons, especially those posted in remote tribal areas, in Basic Surgical Skills and is on its way to start a Centre for Training in Surgical Skills. Two of our success stories define the change in our quality of treatment after moving from the ‘remote location’ model to the institutional model. MR was a 8 year old when she suffered crippling burns of both her hands and face. She had to drop out of school. She was taken up for surgery at one of our weekend surgeries, in 2005, when the burn contractures of her left elbow and right hand were released and she relearned to write with the persuasion of the physiotherapists and rejoined school. She went on to do her bachelor’s degree in nursing and now works as a staff nurse at Aakar Asha Hospital. N, a 18 year old tribal fell into the fire in childhood and had severe contractures of his neck and both hands. The grotesque deformities of his hands were addressed by a rather unconventional technique of fixing an external fixator (used to treat fractures) across the wrist and gradually correcting the deformity. The entire treatment lasted 6 weeks. His mother was given a place to stay in this entire period. Two things stood out –one, we could go the distance as far as treatment was concerned; two, the period of treatment was not a constraint for either patient or attendant. Aakar Asha hospital is a not for profit institution where a large number of physically disabled persons are actively screened from rural areas and helped to come down to the hospital for the often complex surgery involved. The patients who pay for the surgery, cross subsidize the ones who cannot pay. The deficit is supplemented by generous donors. Our model for growth includes Rapid scaling up free surgeries for the underprivileged across the 4 states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Odisha Establishment of a large community network, at the level of mandals (administrative subunits in each district), for spreading awareness about physical disability and access to quality care. Expanding geographical boundaries to other states where there is a need for reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation Increasing number of similar surgeries at a minimal cost to the BOP (bottom of the pyramid) segment who can afford it Expanding the range of services delivered We aim to perform 1000 reconstructive surgeries by March 2019 through a well devised sensitisation, screening and mobilization program.