Shoaib Khan was 14-year-old HIV-infected orphan when his mother died of AIDS. Neglected and abandoned by relatives, the boy refused to take nourishment, and showed signs of aggression towards whoever approached him, when Jason Debora first met him.
Debora, a volunteer from Helping Hand Foundation, upon knowing his plight, nurtured Shoaib like a mother. She visited him every noon and fed him, and stayed with him for a whole day and a night, when the last relative abandoned him. The boy is now at a hospice, recuperating from the blow dealt to him.
Debora is one among the 11 volunteers or ‘Prajarogya Mitras’ from Helping Hand Foundation, who have made it their mission to help and support the poor and destitute patients, mostly in government hospitals. All the tertiary public health care institutions including Osmania General Hospital, Gandhi Hospital, Niloufer Hospital, Government Maternity Hospital and ENT hospital, are covered by the volunteers on the lookout for helpless patients or attendants every day.
The Founder-Trustee of the Foundation Mujtaba Hasan Askari says, it is part of the efforts to improve access to public health care institutions, and reduce the heavy burden of private health care on the poor.
“There are gaps in delivery of services in government hospitals, due to which the poor people are afraid of approaching them. Our efforts are to bridge the gap and make them more accessible to the destitute patients. We try to convince the poor patients for treatment in government hospitals, and help them in every possible way,” Mr. Askari says.
Towards this, volunteers deployed at each institution spot the patients who are in need of help, by doing daily rounds of the in-patient and out-patient blocks. Whenever such patients are found, who are usually about 10 to 15 per volunteer per day, they find out the specific needs of each patient, and try to do their bit.
“Patients from rural areas cannot find their way around the hospital, or get investigations done on their own. They are scared to get tests such as X-Ray and CT Scan, and some times are left without any money. We help them with tests and refer to the Foundation for financial assistance,” Swaroopa Rani, a volunteer at MNJ Institute of Oncology and Regional Cancer Centre said, at an event at the institute on Wednesday.
Sayeed, an MSW graduate who is just out of college, played key role in ensuring proper care for women who were recently shifted to Gandhi Hospital from the Government Maternity Hospital, owing to post-delivery complications and sepsis.
A Whatsapp group of doctors of various hospitals is regularly monitored by Debora where requirements of various patients are posted by the doctors, and attended by the Foundation. Each day, about 30 to 40 cases are referred to the Foundation through this group.
There were also instances when the Foundation helped people get knee replacement and elbow replacement surgeries, Mr. Askari shared.
