In the 1970s, India had various changes at the political level, thus affecting government health policies and services in the country. ‘JanaswasthRakshak’ (Community Health worker) was one of the well-known schemes, which was launched during this period. I had an oppurtunity to coordinate with government health stream, members of health movement and other social movements in the country. Through my initial experience of working as an active member of ‘HALO’ movement and further experience of working with the government, I strongly realized that we can not find solutions by considering health status alone, but by focusing also on the socio-economical constraints, education, severe poverty, limited resources, knowledge or skills to access health services. Certainly these are complex issues, which are often interlinked, connected and sometimes co-exist. My experience of medical practices in the 80s in rural India was valuable and provided me a sound platform to work through an organization.
On 30th September 1993, we witnessed a devastating earthquake (KillariEathquake) and in-response;Halo Medical Foundation(HMF) immediately started relief work. More than 10,000 people lost lives over night and more than 50,000 were displaced. Healthcare facilities, transport and communication were extremely poor, and health demands were rapidly increasing. Initially we conducted more than 100 medical camps and provided emergency health services, but we were more interested to find a sustainable solution at the village level for each community. We developed a Village Health Worker model (Bharat-Vaidya), which was acknowledged at the national level. Then, we felt the need to gather women on a common platform, and self-helps groups were formed. Successively, violence against women was another issue and HMF started working with victims of violence. There in,HMF stepped into public health system, development sector and served for more than 20 years in Osmanabad district, Maharashtra. We had an opportunity to implement variety of public health and development projects, which are detailed in the HMF Journey section on the website. We expanded in urban slums of Sholapur city and worked for a population of 179,000 for more than 5 years. We received support from more than 15 countries across the globe and developed a strong network in the country and worldwide. Today, HMF holds a very unique position in the state and certainly holds significant records in the pubic health sector in India.
Our team is equipped to focus on research initiatives, issues related to gender imbalance in the society, malnutrition, government healthcare strengthening, which are observed as complex issues, but solved in a holistic way through our recent projects. For each project, we implement innovative ideas and thus, measure success and present through conferences, meetings and advocate these possible alternatives for similar organizations and also the government. HMF is scaling rapidly and simultaneously becoming a resourceful center where leaders can develop their ideas and could implement projects with a bigger impact.
Our approach being very optimistic, we strongly believe that, together we can make a difference and all will have a productive life to live.
Warm Regards
Dr. Shashikant Ahankari
President and Founder Member
HMF, India
shashikant.hmf@gmail.com