Piramal group expands healthcare project ASARA

Vishakhapatnam: Piramal Swasthya, an initiative under the aegis of Piramal Foundation (the philanthropic arm of the Piramal Group), announced the expansion of its Project 'ASARA' in the hard-to-reach tribal areas of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Started in 2011, project 'ASARA' focused on the tribal populations of Araku valley in Andhra Pradesh, covering the 45,000-plus population in 181 habitations. The project aimed to combat the region's tribal healthcare challenges and deliver primary healthcare to inaccessible tribal belts. Mobile health workers travel to remote habitations and serve pregnant women. In addition, specialist doctor consultations are facilitated through telemedicine centers. The current programme is an expansion of this successfully implemented model.

The expansion aims to cover the 2.5 lakh-plus population, including women, children, and adolescents in 1179 hard-to-reach habitations across the 11 mandals of the entire tribal belt of the district, starting with Paderu and Chintapalle. It will provide services that include –
1) Monthly antenatal care for pregnant women
2) Care for postnatal women and their infants
3) Counselling and social interventions
4) Training of traditional birth attendants
5) Promoting institutional deliveries &
6) Health education to adolescents in these habitations.

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Vishal Phanse, CEO, Piramal Swasthya, said, "Piramal Swasthya aims to transform India's health ecosystem through high impact solutions, partnerships and thought leadership. Andhra Pradesh is one of the most pro-active states in the country working to improve quality health care access and availability to citizens. Piramal Swasthya is happy to contribute to and complement existing government health efforts. ASARA is our conscious effort to secure mother and child health, reduce the maternal and neonatal mortality rates and significantly enrich the nutrition levels of tribal populations".

"Keeping in mind the project's phenomenal record in its first phase, the second phase will magnify in reach and empower communities through outreach and telemedicine services. The additional thrust on nutrition and the use of locally available, culturally accepted food items and diet gives a push to holistic and indigenous, self-sustainable solutions. We believe that our model will have the significant impact on the overall health indicators of Visakhapatnam, which, in turn, will have an impact on the health indicators of Andhra Pradesh."

Piramal Swasthya, an initiative under the aegis of Piramal Foundation, endeavours to make primary Healthcare available and accessible to the vulnerable population of India. Piramal Swasthya aims to bridge the healthcare service delivery gap for vulnerable communities through its innovative and high impact solutions that leverage its experience and harnesses technology to deliver "transformation at
scale".

Piramal Swasthya strongly believes in collaborating closely with the government through the entire programme cycle from designing to implementation for creating sustainable outcomes. Piramal Swasthya believes that innovations that are scalable and replicable in PPP mode are the key towards achieving the India's Strategic Development Goals.

A staff of over 3600 employees with a dedicated medical force of over 450 experienced doctors and specialists and a large trained paramedic staff lead the delivery of services at Piramal Swasthya. Starting with a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh in 2007, it has spread its footprint to now cover 13 different states and serving beneficiaries.