Tribhuvandas Foundation
Tribhuvandas Foundation is an Integrated Rural Health & Development Programme of Amul. Inspired by the great success of round the clock health care services to the livestock of dairy farmers of Kaira, Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, the Founder Chairman of Amul felt the need of such a service to the rural populace too as he could learn and experience the afflictions brought to them by absence of medical services in rural villages of Kaira. He donated the prize money of his Ramon Magsaysay Award and the fund he received from kaira farmers on his retirement, for his life time service to them, to set up this Foundation. Dr V. Kurien also played an active role in this set up. It was registered as a Charitable Trust under the Public Trust Act 1950, on July 1975.
Tribhuvandas Foundation is a public Charitable trust working with the AMUL milk cooperatives in and around Kheda district of Gujarat. Its mission is to work for betterment of health in rural communities of Central Gujarat.
The Foundation derives its uniqueness from the fact that it is a need-based programme for villagers and is run by the villagers themselves. It fulfills the basic health care needs of the villages. Apart from providing primary treatment for various common ailments, the Foundation is also actively involved in promoting preventive health practices.
The Aim and Objectives of TF are as below:
1. To provide in the service of primarily rural public an organization to undertake activities and programmes to improve their health, hygeine and nutritional levels.
2. To improve the health and hygienic conditions of human beings, especially of infants and expectant mothers, by undertaking research and development in medicine, health, hygiene, nutrition, family planning.
3. To identify and provide the main requirements, for improving the health and hygiene of human beings in the rural area.
4. To provide health service for rural families.
5. To promote overall improvement of the villages environment as will be conductive to improving public health.
6. To promote and assist in the provision of nutritive food, conductive to improve health especially of infants and expectant mothers.
7. To establish and /or maintain hospital or other institution for the reception and treatment of persons suffering from illness or mental defectiveness or for the reception and treatment of persons during convalescence or of persons requiring medical attention or rehabilitation.
8. To establish and/or to run institutions for research in and development of health and hygiene, nutrition, family planning etc.
9. To promote lectures, discussions and correspondence for information on the subject of medicine, nutrition, health and hygiene of human beings and other related problems and to operate and collaborate with any similar organization for furtherance of the objects of the Foundation.
10. To print, publish and circulate journals, bulletin, pamphlets, posters, etc. that the Foundation may think desirable for the promotion of its objects.
11. To undertake programmes to improve health and hygiene and to control and eradicate diseases.
12. To establish laboratories, research institutions and to organize or assist training programme.
13. To provide scholarships, grants and/or loans for education and training in nutritional, Public health and medical science and allied fields.
14. To offer prizes awards and merit or other rewards or inducements for research or for distinguished services in the above fields.
15. To give grants, subsidies, and/or loans to other public charitable institutions for buildings, equipments, medicines, etc. for furtherance of the objects of the Foundation.
16. To render technical, financial administrative and other necessary assistance to other organizations in the field of medicine, health, hygiene, or nutrition, research and development thereon.
17. To operate or collaborate with local authorities, state or Union government, international agencies and/or other institutions to further objects of the Foundation.
18. Generally, to do all such acts and things as are incidental to or conductive to the above object or any of them.
It is headquartered at Anand with sub-centers spread over the district Anand and Kheda. The Foundation has a dedicated Team of Medical Officers, Nurses, Administrative staff, Dais (Traditional Birth Attendants) and Village Health Workers to provide the following services:
Treatment of common ailments; Immunization through vaccination – BCG, Triple Vaccine, Polio, Measles, Tetanus, Anti rabies at subsidized rate; Treatment of tuberculosis and anemia ; Antenatal, postnatal care, neonatal and infant care; Nutritional rehabilitation centers for undernourished children and vulnerable mothers; Identification of suspected cases of cancer and referrals ; Education and counseling on reversible and permanent methods of family planning, health education sessions and referral of critical cases to secondary and tertiary care centers; Building partnership with government for family planning programmes in rural areas; Distribution of contraceptive tablets and condoms through regular camps; Laparoscopic TL and minilap operations, insertion of Copper-T (IUD), and Tubectomy; Cancer awareness programme, detection camp and treatment at Shri Krishna Hospital, Karamsad; Balwadis (Day Care Centers) for pre-school play and learning activities for children of three to five years.
It also provides continuous training and retraining to Village Health Workers who are chosen from villages with the help of the Dairy Co-operative Societies. This enables the Village Health Workers to carry out health education and primary health care from door-to-door, in groups and at the Dairy Co-operative Societies Centers with confidence. The training focuses on primary health care, waterborne disease, know your body, pregnancy and the delivery period, new born care and care of the weak child, growth monitoring, breast feeding, common disease of childhood, malaria, tuberculosis. Training is also imparted on other topics as the need arises.
The Foundation has achieved a drastic reduction in percentage of Low Birth Weight in Anand and Kheda districts – birth of babies with below 2.5 kg just 11% at the end of year 2008-09 while it is 25-30% and even up to 40% in parts of India and Gujarat. The Foundation is recipient of First Prize for the Best Effort in Family Welfare in the Voluntary Sector from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India in 1993. The achievement in creating a popular demand for ‘Balwadi’ across the rural community led to the initiation and operation of government-run ‘anganwadis’. The Foundation has created a strong platform for organized training of rural women on appliqué/handicrafts and sale of their works to generate additional income.
In association with Sankara Eye Hospital, the Foundation has helped in performing more than 2000 surgeries free of cost for the vision impaired patients. The efforts on to organize camps for detection and improvement of vision of the rural people. The Foundation has been identified by Government of Gujarat providing training inputs to members of Village Health and Sanitation Committees of Village Panchayats of all the villages of Umreth, Anklav and Anand talukas of Anand District and Balasinor and Virpur talukas of Kheda District for a period of one year from 2009-2010.
Tribhuvandas Foundation has become one of Asia’s largest community healthcare service providers covering more than 1000 villages. The Foundation still strives to extend its services to as much villages as possible.