RAAY Healthcare

Problem Statement:

The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that India ranks very high among the nations affected by the rising wave of premature deaths caused by non-communicable diseases, which account for 60% of all deaths in India. Almost 38 million deaths occurred due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) each year. In that 16 million deaths occur before the age of 70 and 82% of these premature deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. In India, 3.2 crore people go below the national poverty line by spending on healthcare out of their own pockets in a single year. The poorest 10% of the population rely on sales of their assets or on borrowings, entailing inter-generational consequences on the family’s ability to access basic goods and affecting their long-term economic prospects. Out of total expenditure on healthcare, more than 70% goes out of the patient’s pocket as highlighted by various studies.

India has 20.6 health workers per 10,000 people, a study based on National Sample Survey Organization reveals. Unfortunately, the distribution of health workers is uneven between urban and rural areas. Rural areas with nearly 71% of India’s population have only 36% of health workers.

On average, OECD countries are estimated to have spent 8.8% of GDP on health care in 2018. The United States spent by far the most on health care, equivalent to 16.9% of its GDP – well above Switzerland, the next highest spending country, at 12.2% while India trailing behind with a meagre spending of 1.2%.

The public healthcare system is plagued by category of challenges like lack of awareness, lack of access by rural pockets, humanpower crisis, cost of healthcare and accountability.

Solution

RAAY Healthcare Initiative is an intervention that targets public healthcare system by identifying and bridging the gap in delivering healthcare services to low-income communities.

Our pilot program was launched in partnership with Lokmanya Tilak General Municipal Hospital, Sion in April 2021.

LTGM a premier medical institution since last 65 years, stands today proudly recognized nationally and internationally. The hospital is at a unique station and is the first referral hospital that caters to all traumas and disasters from all major highways. Started as a 50-bedded hospital and single OPD has grown to more than 1900 beds. Currently with 300 senior staff members and 500 post graduate students, it takes care of around 19 lakh OPD patients and more than 80000 admissions per year.

In conjunction with the Social Service Department of LTGM and its dedicated team of Community Development Officers (CDO), our intervention identifies gaps in the delivery of the following services:

1. Surgical Intervention
2. Treatment
3. Investigation
4. Rehabilitation
5. Medical Aid

RAAY Foundation acts in a dynamic and agile manner to fulfil the requirements in the above domain areas as highlighted by the MSW Dept. at LTGM in order to give holistic healthcare services to the identified low-income beneficiaries. Our services are extended across beneficiaries of all demographics and diseases, ranging from communal and non-communal as well as trauma and injuries.

The initiative targets to reach 100 beneficiaries by the end of the year 2021, providing various healthcare services and publish the outcomes of impact generated by our pilot for public reference. In the next 3 years, we aim to expand our beneficiary reach 5 times, reaching the count to 500 patients through various public healthcare partners.