Ekal has a presence in 100,000 remote villages of India with a population of 100 million people. For the development of these remote villages, Ekal has three programs – Education, Arogya (Health and Hygiene) and Economic development. At this time all activities have been diverted towards the fight against COVID.
Ekal’s Arogya program consists of Prevention and Control of the pandemic, and patient-physician contact via Telemedicine.
Preventive- Awareness
- Promote Immunisation through vaccination
- Boosting Immunity by promoting local concoction
- Promote physical exercise – Yoga
- Counter Misinformation regarding CORONA and Vaccination.
Preventive- Measures
- Manufacturing of face masks at Ekal Tailoring training centres, and free distribution by Ekal Karyakartas. Target 400k masks
- Wash Hands
- Social Distancing
Control Pandemic
Diagnostic- Village volunteers to be equipped with digital Oximeters and Thermometers. An estimated quantity of 15,000/ each is targeted at this time. Depending upon the results, the next step is Telemedicine or the transfer of patients to COVID Isolation centers.
Telemedicine – Helpdesk and Call Centre. This service has been established in collaboration with Intelehealth and NMO. 50 call centres are planned in various regional languages throughout India. Close to 400 doctors have registered as volunteers to staff the helpdesk. The number of patients to be supported is estimated at 250k over 3 months.
COVID Isolation Centres (CIC)
Ekal has a presence in 100,000 villages with a population of 100 million people. Ekal teachers and volunteers are doing their best to prevent and control the pandemic in these villages. To better control the spread of the pandemic in Ekal villages, COVID Isolation centers have been set up.
Isolation Centre Facilities
Converting Village Development Centres, Skill Centres, schools, community centres, etc. into temporary Covid Isolation centres. The number of beds in a CIC will vary from 5 to 25 depending on the facility.
Medical Advice, Food, Medicine. Paramedical staff will be provided for diagnostics, medicines, and the use of Oxygen concentrators to every CIC.
Necessary safety and hygiene measures will be observed by the staff and the patients at all times.
Management of CIC’s
CIC operations are planned and managed by a team of professional doctors, under the leadership of Dr. Mukul Bhatia, MS from Ranchi. The members of the team include:
- Dr. R N Mehta, MBBS, D.A., FCCP, Retd. Chief Distt. Medical Officer, Gujrat, Vadodara
- Dr. M S Bhat, MS, FICS, FIAMS, Retd. Prof. & HOD, Gen Surgery, RIIMS, Ranchi
- Dr Vani Ahluwalia, MBBS, DAFE, PGD-McH, Jabalpur
- Dr Umesh Paliwal, MD (Pathology), Kanpur
- Dr. Bhaumik Upadhyaya, MBBS, AFIH, Vadodara
- Dr. Banwari Lal Bagra, MD, Jaipur
- Dr. Mrityunjay Singh, MS, Ranchi.
Coordination with State-run programs: Ekal Arogya (Health and Hygiene) program is coordinated with state runs systems – Asha and Anganwadi.
Coverage
At this time, target is to implement Ekal Isolation program in 15 provinces -Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam, UP, Gujrat, Maharashtra, Himachal, Punjab, MP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana.
Expenses and Costs
- Donation of $1,200 covers Education and Arogya for one village for one year.
- Donation of $37,000 covers management of one CIC for one year
It may be noted that the space is available free of rent, and medical advice is provided by volunteer physicians.