How do you prevent babies from dying in large numbers in rural India? Public healthcare remains inadequate, but Dr. Abhay Bang has a simple solution to this complex problem
The Gadchiroli Model
The Man
Dr. Abhay Bang, founder of non-profit, Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH)
The Model
Train women with primary education from within the community to deliver home-based neonatal care.
Results
- 50 percent drop in infant mortality rate (IMR) within three years. Today, IMR is 29, compared to a national average of 55.
- IMR halved in three years during a replication study in seven districts in Maharashtra.
Taking it Forward
-Planning Commission targets reducing national IMR to 30 by 2012.
- Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Karnataka governments will use their funds from the Commission to roll out this programme this year.
Budget Highlights
-The National Rural Health Mission to get Rs. 2,057 crore over and above the Rs. 12,070 crore provided in the Interim Budget.
-Allocation for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana increased 40 percent to Rs. 350 crore; all families living below the poverty line will be brought under the scheme.
Gadchiroli is one of Maharashtra’s poorest districts. And right in the middle, between the tribal and non-tribal, Naxal and non-Naxal parts of the district, sits a group of tribal huts: Dr Abhay Bang’s community health and research campus.
(This story appears in the 17 July, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)