Jan Swasthya Sahyog

Jan Swasthya Sahyog

Website	https://www.jssbilaspur.org/

Jan Swasthya Sahyog is a non-governmental organization focused on healthcare based in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It operates a hospital and some health centers in the states of Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which provide low-cost treatment. It also runs daycare centers, and provides rudimentary health products to the local communities. The organization received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 2017.[1][2][3]

History

It was established in 1996, by a group of eight doctors from AIIMS New Delhi. They converted an abandoned building in the village of Ganiyari into a clinic.[4][5]

Facilities

The organization runs a hospital at Ganiyari, which is a 62-bed facility and includes an operation theatre, a laboratory and a pharmacy. Apart from the full-time staff, volunteers from AIIMS New Delhi also work at the hospital. It provides low cost treatment, and draws patients from all across the Bilaspur district as well as surrounding districts. Apart from the main hospital, it operates sub-centers at the villages of Shivtarai, Semaria and Bamhni. The sub-centers service about 150 small villages in the surrounding areas, mostly inhabited by Gond and Baiga people.[5][6]

It also runs phulwaris (daycare centers) across rural Chattisgarh. As of 2024, 83 phulwaris are operated by the organization. These admit children of up to six years of age, and serve as an alternative to anganwadis, which only admit children of up to three years. The phulwaris were instituted after several deaths of unsupervised children due to drowning or other accidents were reported. Furthermore, the children also receive a meal each day in these centers, which is crucial since malnutrition is rife in the region.[7][8][9]

The organization designs and provides rudimentary healthcare products for the local communities, such as a village first aid kit, which includes bamboo splints to treat fractures.[1] It also trains village health workers, many of them semi-literate or even illiterate, in basic tasks such as the measurement of blood pressure, taking sputum samples, et cetera.[10]

References

1. "Jan Swasthya Sahyog - Jamnalal Bajaj Award 2017". Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
2. "बिलासपुर के इस अस्पताल में गरीबों का मुफ्त में होता है इलाज" [The poor are treated for free in this hospital in Bilaspur.]. News18 हिंदी (in Hindi). 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
3. "Doctors should expedite procedures to relieve patients from financial burdens, says Dr Raman Kataria". Hindustan Times. 2023-12-14. Archived from the original on 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
4. Ghose, Dipankar (2015-11-18). "In Chhattisgarh, ex-AIIMS team mixes tech, medicine to cure poor". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
5. Dogra, Bharat (2013-05-22). "Ideals put to test". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
6. Ruddock, Anna (2015-11-07). "India's blinkered preference for specialist doctors". Archived from the original on 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
7. Nagarajan, Rema (2024-01-12). "How Chhattisgarh's phulwaris are helping toddlers beat malnutrition". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
8. Dhawan, Himanshi (2017-11-26). "This village knows how to feed its hungry babies". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
9. Dishani, Madonne Rufina; Kannan, Radhika; Philip, Reni; Ramesh, Naveen; Jain, Yogesh; Mohite, Anjali (2019-08-27). "Morbidity profile and nutritional status of tribal under five children attending the phulwaris in rural Chhattisgarh". International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health. 6 (9): 4077–4081. doi:10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20194020. ISSN 2394-6040.
10. "The pain killers". The Times of India. 2010-05-26. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-12-23.