Projects

THE SOCIETY FOR WELFARE OF CHILDREN AND ITS MISSION

The Society For Welfare Of Children was established as a registered society under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act in 2001 with the following main objectives:

Preventive and Curative Treatment of disabilities, specially in children
Education, Vocational Training and Economic Rehabilitation of disabled and destitute children

Over the last ten years, the society has been involved in conducting various types of philanthropic activities as follows:

Health check-up camps and free medical treatment

Awareness Camps for prevention and cure of disabilities

Psychological counseling, teachers and parents counseling and steps to curb drop-out of children from schools particularly in rural areas

Special schools for mentally retarded children

Vocational training in computer education, weaving, etc

The society is specially keen to set up a centre for diagnosis and treatment of disabilities in children. It is the aim of the society to have an apex hospital at Kolkata which will be logistically linked to a number of satellite centres in various districts of West Bengal.

Census figures have indicated that out of a total population of 1.2 billion people in India, more than 50% are under the age of 30, and 60% of the population live in the villages. Therefore, there is need for medical care for the treatment of disability in children from the rural areas. The society will endeavour to mobilize funds from corporate and individual donors both from India and abroad for setting up the facilities to bring the medical care facilities within the reach of economically weaker sections of the society.

Children with disabilities require constant care and attention and special schools for their training. It is the society’s aim to set up a rehabilitation centre for these challenged children very close to the hospital. Society also focuses on prevention of disability by modular expert intervention for High Risk Pregnancies.

INTRODUCTION – DISABILITY IN CHILDREN : THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION

Disability or Neuro-disability, especially in children, may or may not be visible. Visible disabilities Cerebral Palsy occurs in proportion of not less than one in five hundred live births. Whereas, non visible disability like Autism may be as high as one in hundred living children. Dyslexia(specific learning disability) is as high as one in ten for school going children and EBD (Emotional/Educational, Behavioural, Developmental) problems in children (Annexure 7) are estimated to be in the order of 1 in 5 (WHO figure up to the year 2000 states 1 in 10).Current data estimates the incidence of Cerebral Palsy is no less than 0.2 to 0.3% of our childhood population ( Visible disability ). But, compare that with 1% incidence rate of Autism, 3% to 5% of ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders ) or 5% to 10% of Dyslexia ( Invisible Disability ) of entire childhood population, then one can imagine the gigantic burden of secondary morbidities from EBD problems in children ( Refer to PSC and M-CHAT ) Solution through a proper and bonafide Child Development Center can drastically reduce the burden of such morbidities of the quality assurance is guaranteed through requisite funding. The project needs nurturing before it can become self-sustaining . This is an essential pre-requisite of this project development.

NEED FOR A PAEDIATRIC SUPER-SPECIALITY HOSPITAL AND A CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE : PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

To address the social, economic and health care of such morbidity, every borough in the U.K. has a specialist centre to address such problem specifically and scientifically. They are called Child Development Centers. It was thought for a long time that such centers are not feasible in Indian context. However, need has driven the demand. A large number of well-intended individuals have tried to address plight of such children(Special Needs Children) by opening centers through individual donation or N.G.O. Government Hospitals have tried it in bits and pieces. Solution, however, could not be reached satisfactorily.

It was not reached, not because of lack of good intention or efforts. The limiting factor was Technology and Expertise.

Child Development Center, AGH was envisioned to bring an essential quality and to test out the concept on the Indian soil. CDC AGH(Annexure 8) is incidentally, India’s first CDC in a corporate health care setup. High quality input with multi-disciplinary work in the U.K’s model in best practice has brought the proof that with adequate input, such affected children of our country also excels as good as their western counterparts. It is our hope that the best practice model of CDC AGH is utilized to help the difficulties of our country’s Special Needs Children to such a level of technological standard, which was only available in the Developed Nations in the recent past. With current level of available expertise as our Chief Executive Officer (Annexure- ) there is no reason why this technical assistance cannot be brought to the poorest of poor of West Bengal at a very affordable cost. As this is not cost intensive requirement but a human resource intensive need and as West Bengal has a tradition of culture of trying to do good for the masses, I am confident that West Bengal can establish similar good practice model for the country.

China till 2009 did not have a developmental Pediatrician in their country. However, they were seen to be making a consorted effort to start good quality CDC as they have realized the good gain in Social Capital through such preventative health care activity.

Similar Preventive Strategies must be adopted with expert management of High Risk Pregnancies with Fetal Medicine experts and preventive obstetricians of our team of experts. This will reduce the burden of disability from preventable perinatal ( before and around birth ) causes.

We are looking for necessary funding for executing the project to the highest standard to bring it to the BPL families with the minimum standard necessary for having the positive outcome. CDC AGH’s outcomes have surpassed that of the existing bests in the country. We want to deliver that quality which minimizes impact of disability and saves families from suffering lifelong agony through commitment to the Quality of Input. We have good wishes of many dignitaries (Annexure 10). Now we need necessary funding to bring in the dream to reality.

THE PROJECT & ITS COMPONENTS

Laid out over a 2-acre complex, the project is conceived as a hub centred around the Superspeciality Hospital and comprising of various other facilities and activity centres as follows:

The SUPERSPECIALITY Paediatric Hospital, specialised for children with disability, with 270 Beds specialised for children with disability along with a Child Development Centre.

TRAINING CENTER for Nurses, other Staff, Doctors and Parents with the following courses :

Formal Courses in Developmental Paediatrics. The only similar course is India runs in Trivandrum University. There is a high demand with very poor supply.

Teachers Training Courses : Training for Special Educational Need Co-ordinators (SENCO) and Special Educators (not the self-proclaimed untrained cohort that we currently see in the country !

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT : Research in this field which will be one of its kind in the country.

REHABILITATION CENTRE for disabled children with facilities for accommodation and multidisciplinary input.

RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES for Doctors, Nurses and senior Staff.

GUEST HOUSE FACILITIES for Patients’ families.

Each of these units is engaged as a separate revenue-earning centre which will be sustainable and managed independently under an apex body.

THE TECHNICAL COLLABORATOR

The Project will be implemented under the supervision of M/s Nabayatak Institute for Health Care & Advanced Research (NIHAR) Private Limited, headed by Dr Anjan Bhattacharya, Consultant Paediatrician, who has worked in the field of Paediatrics, Neonatalogy and Development Paediatrics both in India and the UK for the last 22 years.

Presently associated with Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, Dr Bhattacharya has extensively worked with the assessment and management of disabilities in children and has been singularly responsible for setting up an Integrated Child Development Centre at the Apollo Hospital, Kolkata, the first of its kind in India in the corporate healthcare sector.

Dr Bhattacharya will lead a team of doctors both from India and abroad who will be responsible for running the super-speciality hospital as it becomes operational.

His company will be involved in medical research dealing with the problems of children with complex disabilities. The company will also be responsible for implementing the training programmes to be undertaken at the Training Centre as also managing the Rehabilitation Centre and other ancillary facilities within the complex.

THE SUPER-SPECIALITY HOSPITAL-FACILITIES & SERVICES

Land for the Hospital & Its Location

The Department of Health, Government of West Bengal has been pleased to declare the society to be eligible to erect a 270 bedded hospital including the surgical and other curative service for various kinds of disability after scrutinizing the plan as per West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act 1950 (vide the vetting report issued by the said govt. deptt, attached herewith).

L & L.R Department of Govt. of West Bengal has allotted a land of about 46,120 sq.ft. (1.06 acres) for the said purpose to the society, in Mouza Krishnapore, P.S. Rajarhat, Dist. 24-Parganas (N).

The plot is strategically located near the VIP Road and is ideally suited for the proposed hospital with excellent communication facilities and proximity to the airport and will cater to a vast cross-section of population and diverse economic backgrounds.
The Hospital and its facilities

Planned as a multi-speciality hospital to be set up on the above land with a total constructed area of 333,621 sq ft , it will have a total of 270 beds. As a super-speciality, the hospital will focus on Paediatrics with emphasis on assessment and management of children with complex disabilities.

The special feature of this hospital will be a Child Development Centre, to be set up as a Day Care Facility for which the requisite expertise and know-how is available with the technical collaborators.

Emphasis will also be given on preventative health care activities such as strategies to be adopted for high-risk pregnancies which will reduce the burden of disability from preventable prenatal causes.

With the growing incidence of disabilities in children, a need has been felt for a multi-disciplinary set up to handle their problems with advanced technological support and the highest degree of medical care at a very affordable cost.