Location: Tansa, Maharashtra State
Web Site: http://www.prasad.org/
India’s strong economic growth over the past decade has yet to translate into advances in human development for the majority of its residents. Pervasive inequities, typically based on caste, gender, and geography, make it especially difficult for marginalized segments of India’s population to meet basic needs. Adavasi (tribal) people, about 9 percent of India’s total population often bear the heaviest burden of disease—including the highest rates of malnutrition—but have the least access to affordable healthcare services.
Prasad is a Sanskrit word that means “a gift that brings blessings to both the giver and the receiver.” PRASAD Chikitsa (chikitsa means “therapy”) was established in the 1970s to address the lack of primary health care in Maharashtra’s rural Tansa Valley, 85 kilometers east of Mumbai. It originally provided basic medical and nutritional services via a mobile medical unit but has since expanded to offer dental, ophthalmic, pediatric, nutrition, reproductive health, and comprehensive HIV/AIDS services. In 1994, PRASAD was formally established as a charitable trust.
PRASAD’s catchment area covers portions of three talukas (zones) including Bhiwandi, Wada, and Vasai a total of 250 villages, or about 250,000 people. This area is heavily populated by members of the Warli tribe, known for their rice paste paintings of village scenes that reflect a philosophy of community. Most tribal members do not own land or water access rights for irrigation. With limited resources and employment options, Warlis and other tribal people in the area typically live hand-to-mouth, working as laborers on farms or in brick factories.
Predominant medical issues include parasitic and bacterial infections; nutritional deficiencies; and childbirth complications. These health problems among the population of the Tansa Valley stem from a lack of protected water supply, inadequate food intake, exposure to a range of diseases and bacteria, and a lack of awareness about medical care. The nearest public hospital is 40 kilometers away, but the facility has long been known for its poor care and shortages of medicines and supplies. Before Prasad’s healthcare services became available, malnutrition among children was commonplace, a significant percentage of women delivered pre-term and low-weight babies, mortality and morbidity rates were high, and thousands suffered chronic ailments.
Direct Relief has supported PRASAD’s healthcare activities since 1984 and has recently approved a grant to the organization in support of its maternal child health (MCH) and HIV/AIDS programs. One of the components of the MCH-related services is to provide formal training of dais, or traditional birth attendants, who are often self-taught. The HIV/AIDS activities include testing, counseling, providing antiretroviral therapy, treatment for opportunistic infections, and specialized nutrition services.