THE GUDALUR ADIVASI HOSPITAL

NEWSLETTER 2005

The ASHWINI team in Gudalur once again wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!   Thank you for your continued support.

Looking Back.....

We have come a long way in the last 15 years! From "lying down to die" when illness struck, the tribals now access health care in large numbers. Deaths from diarrhoea and anaemia, common killers then, are a rarity today. 30 tribals have completed training in various aspects of health care and another 8 are being trained. They have been able to take over the day-to-day management of the health program.

The Past Year..... 

Has seen a flurry of activity with

• The launch of the Community Mental Health Program with the support of The Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Suicides are now the commonest cause of death, many being related to mental illness. The morbidity and family stress from severe mental illness is enormous. With the help of Dr.Kishore from NIMHANS, Bangalore and Dr.KS Jacob from CMC, Vellore, the staff and volunteers are being trained in various aspects of mental illness.
• Village health volunteer training program has been the most important activity of the year. 100 villages are represented. The enthusiasm of this group is infectious and they have taken on a lot of responsibility.
• The medical student elective program has been a huge success. All the students who participated enjoyed it immensely. Details of the program, student feedback etc are available at www.medicalstudentelectives.org
• The Sickle Cell Disease Centre was established at GAH. Newborn screening, pneumococccal vaccination and hydroxyurea treatment have been started. Thanks to Hari Prabhakar, an undergrad student at Johns Hopkins. The commitment of this 21 year old to the tribal cause is exemplary. He has set up The Tribal India Health Foundation (www.tihf.org) to extend support.
• The Staff number has increased with 2 junior doctors electing to do their bond here. This has made work more organised this year. Dr. PG Premila, retired Professor of Paediatrics, Trivandrum Medical College, spends a good part of the year with us and is an inspiration to the team. Dr. Ramesh conducts monthly ENT clinics. Dr.Mridula who has now been with us for 3 years has become a pillar of strength.
• The Hospital continues to be busy. Last year we saw 10,753 outpatients (63% tribals), admitted 1,056 inpatients ( 93% tribal), conducted 204 deliveries (90% tribal) and performed 139 surgeries (59% tribal). Two paraplegic boys, Suresh and Vijayan, were rehabilitated at CMC, Vellore. Thanks to Dr.Henry and the CMC team.
• All but two of the 7 Area Centres have been struggling with the totally inadequate infrastructure. The Centre at Pattavayal was inaugurated this year, thanks to funding support from FEASTA, Ireland. The Ayyankolly centre is being well used. There is a crying need for good buildings. We are actively decentralising by upgrading work at the area centres.
• The dental clinic continues to function with the help of Dr Venkatesh.
• The financial situation has been close to critical with funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation coming to an end. Donations from Indians for Collective Action, USA and friends like you kept us going for the year.
• The Insurance plan was renewed this year with Royal Sundaram Insurance Company. The cover has been increased to Rs.2500 for a premium of Rs 40. We attended many meetings to network with other organisations.
• Government interaction has been significantly more this year with the Tamil Nadu Government actively involving us in the implementation of the Health Systems Development Project. ASHWINI is part of a 3-member team to propose an insurance plan for the state.
• Our sister organisations in Education, Community Organisation, Tea Leaf Marketing continue to expand the scope of their work. Please visit their websites www.adivasi.net   www.justchangeindia.com

Funding Support …

• Sir Ratan Tata Trust (S.R.T.T) supports the insurance and the mental health programmes.
• Many individual donors, Charities Advisory Trust, Indians for Collective Action, Vidyalaya.org Foundation Inc., Physicians Against World Hunger and The Toshniwall Trust continue to support us.
• Skillshare International supports the health-training programme.

Corpus Fund: Thanks to our staunch supporters this has reached Rs 9.2 lakhs. We still have a long way to go to reach our target of Rs 100 lakhs (US $200,000) to ensure stability of our health care system.

Financial details, April 2004 to March 2005

Total Income : Rs.3,677,390	Charities Advisory Trust, UK donated Rs.1,884,327 as Good Gifts to the community for a chicken bank. More info at www.goodgifts.org
Total Expenses : Rs.3,280,061	International Travel: Mr.Radhakrishnan, President, ASHWINI went to Germany sponsored by Adivasi Tee Projekt. Highest Salary: Rs.10000 per month Lowest Salary: Rs.   1800 per month Rs. M F Total <5000 6 22 28 5-10000 1 2 3 Total 7 24 31

Looking Ahead....

The global market fluctuations with the crash in tea prices is playing havoc in the lives of the tribals who have no reserves to fall back on. Work is hard to come by and food is scarce. Health indicators are showing worsening trends. While many interventions for economic empowerment are under way, these will take time to show results. Meanwhile the community needs to be supported through this crisis.

• A community fund is being created to help people tide over emergencies.
• Decentralisation to give greater responsibilities to the 8 areas and encouraging more community participation will be an important part of the work in the coming years.
• Capacity building at the village level will remain a focus.
• Achieving financial sustainability for the health work will be a priority.

We hope you will continue to be an active participant

on this exciting journey.