Making A Difference

4 Rural Health Clinics serve 342,000 beneficiaries in 287 villages
12 Mobile Health Clinics have treated over 3.9 million patients in 670 villages
Over 2000 medical camps benefited 366,000 people from 4000 villages
Community Care Center for HIV infected people has served 2500 patients

Sensing the urgent need to take action against human suffering in rural India, Sadhguru initiated Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), a rural revitalization program, in 2003. The program provides a comprehensive approach to improved health, livelihood and community revitalization.

ARR’s health initiative is designed to overcome the two main road blocks in rural healthcare – cost and access. One of ARR’s innovative solutions has been Mobile Health Clinics (MHCs) – healthcare on the move! MHCs are specially designed all-terrain healthcare vehicles capable of reaching areas otherwise inaccessible to conventional healthcare providers. The mobile units combine a pharmacy, awareness generation units and doctor’s office, all built into a truck which tours the villages, staffed by a doctor, nurse, pharmacy assistant, and driver. They bring free, high-quality healthcare and are of invaluable assistance to those who are most vulnerable to disease and infection.

The MHCs offer free primary healthcare and treat the most common ailments such as diarrhea, fever, and cough right at the villagers’ footsteps.

This means that a villager does not have to travel all the way to the nearest town or city for treatment – something most of them are reluctant to do. Most importantly, the villagers are treated without having to waste a workday – the loss of which, very often would mean the loss of that day’s meals.

Rural Health Clinics

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For complicated cases which need further investigation or treatment, the MHCs often refer patients to Isha Rural Health Clinics (IRHCs). IRHCs are clinics in centrally situated rural locations which serve up to 30 surrounding villages and an average of a hundred patients daily. They provide communities with 24-hour access to affordable and expert healthcare services. Each IRHC is equipped with a lab, a pharmacy with medicines available at 50% discount, and minor surgery facilities. Apart from its in-house doctor, the IRHC also has a team of visiting specialists for gynaecology, ENT and pediatrics. What makes these clinics really special is that many among the 10-member staff in each clinic are full-time volunteers.

They work with a dedication and commitment that money can’t buy, often living and sleeping within the hospital premises to keep the clinic going 24 hours a day.

Health Camps

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ARR also works by the old adage, “Prevention is better than cure,” and has initiated several health awareness camps and projects over the years. A fact that may surprise many about rural India’s health is that it is chronic disease, not infectious disease, which is a major cause of illness and mortality. Often, it is a lack of a few aspects of basic nutrition, hygiene and health awareness that snowballs into chronic ailment. “Arokiya Alai” or “Wave of Health” are a series of ARR camps conducted by teams of medical and paramedical professionals which spread awareness on nutrition, disease prevention, hygiene, and sanitation to rural people through talks and media presentations.

The Arokiya Alai project provides cost-free, simple, healthy dietary solutions to help eradicate malnutrition in villagers.

By providing knowledge on diseases and their symptoms, Arokiya Alai hopes that villagers will be able to detect diseases early and thus take necessary action. Arokiya Alai’s message is further spread through print collaterals, video, posters, handbills and kitchen stickers.