MUMBAI: Operation Asha has proved again that it is not confining its operations to India and has been doing exceptional work outside the country
Set up in 2005 with a compelling vision to improve the lives of the disadvantaged, its first step in this direction was to eradicate TB and then add other products and services to the delivery pipeline of Operation Asha. Their clear-sighted goals and unwavering dedication prompted policy-makers, health practitioners and investors to join from both sides of the Atlantic.
The organization’s primary work is curing TB and preventing Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in India and Cambodia. Operation Asha specializes in last-mile connectivity, bridging the gap between government medicine distribution centers and the communities of patients to deliver treatment at the doorsteps of the under-served.
Its work in Cambodia has resulted in the training of more than 3000 people from remote villages as community health workers. These foot soldiers carry out TB detection and provide doorstep delivery of TB medicines to patients living in villages and far-flung areas, thus ensuring health and economic stability, and preventing the menace of drug resistance, said Sandeep Ahuja, an OpAsha activist.
Drug resistance continues to be one of the biggest challenges. “We prevent this by using eCompliance, the fingerprint technology to monitor every dose taken, and slowly but surely, eCompliance is becoming the gold standard for TB care. This eCompliance has been replicated by ASPAT, an NGO in Peru, by the name SisBiotic, to target Peru’s TB high treatment abandonment rate.
Aspat Peru received the Kochon award at the UNION conference in Cape Town last year, which is awarded annually by the Stop TB Partnership to individuals and/or organizations that have made a significant contribution to combating TB.” Work continues, and better than before. Each successive year makes us more determined,” Abuja said.
He claimed this year has started with great accolades. “Dr Shelly Batra, co-founder of Operation Asha, was invited by the World Economic Forum to attend its Annual Summit at Davos in January 2016. There was a brilliant gathering of the who’s who from across the globe. No doubt this one invitation added greatly to our credibility and strength. With recognition comes greater responsibility and now our resolution is to accelerate our work with greater determination and courage, in order to expand our model to many more geographies,” Ahuja added.
Frank Fernandes
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