Sparsh Hospital

Sparsh Foundation

SPARSH Vachana

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"Vachana", literally translated from Sanskrit, means 'clear promise'

Every child has the right to live in the present and to grow and develop in the most optimal conditions possible. But too often we come across physically challenged children with complex musculoskeletal abnormalities, denied of their basic right to treatment due to lack of resources and expertise.

In serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity. To pursue this dream of making little lives better, SPARSH Foundation, the non-profit arm of SPARSH Hospital, brought SPARSH Vachana into being.

Every year, 200 children with complex orthopaedic and plastic deformities undergo corrective surgery, completely free of cost. In the last three years, SPARSH Vachana has brought together specialist surgeons from around the world to perform over 1000 operations on these less fortunate children. These complex operations require high class infrastructure, the best skill sets and extensive co-ordination to deliver optimum results. Each child is also given the finest pre and post operative care. To continue this noble initiative, significant funding is required and this is where your support will make a world of difference.

To know more, visit: http://www.sparshvachana.com/

Guru Namana

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Teaching is a special calling. Teaching is a mission. Teachers touch lives and make a difference to the futures of many. Once a person leaves the portals of a school, the guidance imparted to him/her is priceless and remains for life but the giver of this guidance is often forgotten. Teaching is often not a highly paid profession and most retired teachers cannot afford advanced medical care and are not covered by insurance. Therefore, the initiative SPARSH Guru Namana has been created as an attempt to alleviate pain, increase mobility and transform the lives of retired teachers suffering from arthritis.

SPARSH Guru Namana pays tribute to Teachers by performing Total Joint Replacement Surgery and subsequent post operative care, completely free of cost, for 100 retired teachers who suffer from crippling arthritis. The surgeries are carried out by a team of specialists from India, UK, USA and Team SPARSH. In the initial screening phase, the teachers who are to benefit from SPARSH Guru Namana are identified and assessed medically for their suitability. To continue this initiative, significant funding is required and your support will make a world of difference to deserving retired teachers.

Resuscitation by right- Right to life and survival:

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Accidents are great levellers. They don't differentiate between the rich and poor, social class or religion. The difference between death and life in many cases is medical intervention in the shortest possible time. This becomes particularly relevant when the accident victim is alone or with someone who is also injured. The ability to afford medical help at that point in time should be the least of all concerns. Every person should have the right to receive the best medical assistance possible. Everyone has the right to live. Hence SPARSH Hospital believes that everyone has right to resuscitation. SPARSH foundation will bear all initial costs of resuscitation for unknown patients for the first 24 hours after the accident. Even in instances where there is difficulty in identifying next of kin or family for more then two days, all patients will receive the very best treatment available till their family is contacted. Once the patient is stabilized and resuscitated the patient can choose whether to stay on for further treatment or shifted to any other hospital according to their or their family's choice

Industrial Accident Care; Industrial safety has improved greatly in the country but has not kept pace with industrial growth. Industrial accidents like crush injuries to the limbs affect young bread winners of families. SPARSH Hospital has put in place a highly skilled team specializing in hand surgery and limb re implantation surgery to support this programme. SPARSH Foundation provides funding to assist patients avail of these services.

A Primary Resuscitation Centre, in partnership with the Govt. of Tamil Nadu, has been established on the interstate highway at Hosur. All the patients here are resuscitated and stabilized free of cost before shifting them to medical centres.

HejjeGuruthu

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Every year 1500 children are born with Club Foot in Karnataka. In cases where children are born to families that are economically backward, this means that in many cases the child with Club Foot invariably grows up disabled. The congenital clubfoot is the most common serious birth defect of human bones and joints. Left untreated, the foot remains twisted inwards and becomes painful. The walking child bears weight on the thin skin on the top of the foot. Deformity leads to a downward spiral of disability, dependency & demoralization. Over time the patient gets hunched over and walks on all fours. Disabled individuals are rarely productive or valued members of society. Their needs add to the burdens of their families and communities.

HejjeGuruthu - The Sustainable Clubfoot Programme in Karnataka is a public- private initiative between the Government of Karnataka & SPARSH Hospital. With the objective of making Karnataka a "Neglected Club Foot Free State", the programme brings together the clinical and process skills of SPARSH Hospital together with governmental infrastructure to search, identify, correct, treat and review children with Club Foot for free.

The programme was launched by the Honorable Chief Minister of Government of Karnataka, Shri. B.S Yeddyurappa on 13th June 2008 at the Conference Hall, Third Floor, VidhanaSoudha. The chief guests of the function are ShriSriramulu, Honorable Minister for Health and Shri P M Narendraswamy, Honorable Minister for Women and Child Development.

Using a process called the Ponseti Technique (developed by Professor Ignacio Ponseti) a serial plastering technique; the treatment has been shown to have a 95% success rate with young club foot patients. Used extensively in the US, Europe and Africa, the clinical results have been remarkable. With its high success rates and ease of implementation the Ponseti Technique of treatment of the congenital clubfoot has been shown to be effective in many developed and developing countries of the world. The surgical technique required is minimally invasive kind and is called percutaneous tenotomy. The goal is to make Ponseti Treatment available to all affected infants born in Karnataka in a timely, safe, effective and sustainable manner.

The projects methodology is to

Build awareness among healthcare workers, Anganwadi and SthreeShakthi workers and the society in general regarding detecting the clubfoot deformity and the availability of appropriate treatment.

Build capacity in two areas:

  • Train over hundred medical professionals across the state at the Sparsh Hospital club foot treatment center.
  • To persuade the appropriate authorities to include Ponsetti method of treating club foot in the medical curriculum.

Monitor the results

  • All the partners involved in the treatment of the club foot will take digital pictures and mail them to the central monitoring system at Sparsh hospital were the results are assessed and monitored.

SPARSH Hospital is leading this initiative. It seeks to build scale and roll out the programme aggressively across the state to create reach and accessibility to all corners of Karnataka and its people.

SPARSH Hospital has already set up a training and treatment hub. Training materials have been developed and as our initial partners JSS Medical College Mysore and SS Institute of Medical Sciences, Davengere have been inducted. The expansion plans are aggressive; the capacity will be scaled up to cover 12 districts by the end of this year. With the aim to create accessibility and reach, this programme will have statewide scope and impact. An initiative of this kind is truly unique - a partnership between government and private healthcare where the beneficiaries are the children of Karnataka and that too from economically backward families. It's a first of its kind.

Children are the future of Karnataka. Their future is our responsibility. Disability due to Club Foot should come to an end. For years now many children that were born with Club Foot grew up disabled; disabled and broken. Affected children should have the same opportunities as non affected children and have the same life trajectory as any other child in Karnataka. Effective treatment corrects the deformity and HejjeGuruthu is the beginning of a healthcare movement and possibly the beginning of the end of neglected Club Foot.

Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Care

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1in 800 live births in our country are cleft Lip and Cleft Palate patients. Many of these children drop out of school, do not receive treatment, and become social problems for their families. And this is for a problem that can be easily corrected. It starts with recognising that these children are not objects of sympathy, but citizens with the same rights that we all enjoy. SPARSH Hospital runs a cleft lip and palette programme to address this issue.
SPARSH Hospital launched smile campaign in conjunction with The Smile Train a charitable institution, this was launched by Dr.SantoshBabu collector of KrishnagiriDist at Sparsh hospital on 18/6/2007. Addressing the media on this occasion Dr SharanShivarajPatil, Chairman Sparsh Hospital has said that in this scheme all the cleft and their associated anomalies will be operated completely free of charge and this will be an on going Programme. He also emphasized on the important role of the media in reaching out and increasing the awareness among the general public on such conditions

The main objectives of the smile campaign are
  • Increase the awareness among the general public
  • operate all the cases of cleft free of charge
  • Make areas within 200 kms in and around Sparsh hospital cleft lip and palate free.

We have got a very good response from the general public till now. We would like to reach out to many more especially in the rural areas. We have formed a partnership with doordarshan and are working towards this end. We think that doordarshan with a wide coverage in the rural areas will help us reach out to many more people.
1 in 800 live births are cleft patients. That is we have more than 30000 children with cleft every year. Out of which only about 10% of them receive any kind of treatment. Scientific studies have shown that most of the cleft children are seen in lower socio-economic classes with a monthly income of less than Rs 1700. Many children do not receive the treatment in India. Half of India's cleft children are deprived of their fundamental right to education. Many of India's cleft children go to bed each night hopeless and angry. We as a nation seem quite content to tolerate this violation of their basic constitutional rights.

It is time that we start thinking of these children, not as objects of sympathy, but as citizens with the same rights that we consider our due. That we believe, really believe, that every child, regardless of birth and circumstances is truly equal.

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