CHD Group, a public health organization headquartered in Mangalore City intervened in Cyclone Fani hit Odisha to provide medical relief along with their partners SEEDS and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneshwar.
Every day two medical teams provide primary healthcare by taking doctors to the homes of most affected rural communities and in urban slum settlements under information & co-ordination from the district administration & health office. CHD Group has been running Multi-specialty medical interventions primarily catering to the sick, rural poor, women and children along with elderly patients. The average patients seen by both teams vary from 150-300 on a daily basis.
Dr. Edmond Fernandes, CEO, CHD Group who is also a community health physician by nature has been spear-heading the effort along with Dr. Raviraj Kamble, Senior Resident, Dept of Community Medicine, AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar and Dr. Avneet Randhawa, National Consultant, CHD Group. Mr. Rohan Menezes, CHD Group Advisor is also on ground engaged in co-ordination and grass-root level execution. On a daily basis, diseases ranging from Upper respiratory tract infection, to skin diseases, generalized illness, chronic diseases like Diabetes, Hypertension and diseases requiring tertiary care are noted among the patients who turn up at relief camps.
CHD Group has also rolled up a post disaster epidemiological health assessment based keeping the sampling as those who turn out at relief camps. The result of the same will be put to statistical interpretation along with empirical evidence to strengthen policy decisions in the future.
CHD Group has been working in the space of health systems strengthening and disaster risk reduction for many years now and have worked in major national disasters in the country like Kerala Floods, Bihar Floods, Gujarat Floods. Post Cyclone Fani, the hygiene levels of people have deteriorated and they stand in need of primary health care. A lot of rural pockets have gone untouched by aid-agencies and reaching the last mile is a priority of CHD Group at all times. CHD Group works with Government Departments, United Nations Agencies and corporate partners in the healthcare space around the country.
Those wishing to connect with them can write to chdgroupworldwide@gmail.com or facebook.com/chdefforts