Success story

Arun

Sep 2013

Name	Arun
Age	5.5 years
Sex	Male
Medical Problem	Kawasaki Disease
Status	Discharged
Date	20/9/2013

Case Background

Master Arun is the son of Mr. Subramaniam, a farmer who earns around INR 7000 a month. His mother is a house wife. Arun was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease, also known as the lymph node syndrome. Kawasaki Disease is a medical condition in which medium-sized blood vessels in the body become inflamed. This condition is largely seen in children less than five years of age and affects several organs, mainly those including the blood vessels, like the skin, mucous membranes and lymph nodes. However, its rare but most serious effect is on the heart where it can cause fatal coronary artery aneurysms in untreated children. This medical condition can be cured by a life saving drug IVIG (Intra Venous Immunoglobulin) which costs about INR 9700/ 5gms.

Ekam’s Involvement

Master Arun needed a total of 32gms of IVIG for his treatment. Though the treatment for this medical condition is available freely at government hospitals, the drug is not available at all times. Dr. Seetha, who is the consultant for Arun, contacted Ekam regarding this case. We immediately arranged for the required quantities of IVIG from our funds. The timely intervention saved Master Arun’s life and helped his speedy recovery.

Current Status:

Master Arun is completely cured and is living happily with his family.  

Ekam Contact:

Name                          : Mr.Charles Robin

Designation                 : Patient Welfare Officer.

Telephone Number     : 7299002848

Success story

Amirthalakshmi

May 2013

Name	Amirthalakshmi
Age	2.5 years
Sex	Female
Medical Problem	Congenital Thoracic Scoliosis
Status	Discharged
Date	29/6/2013

Case Background

Baby Amirthalakshmi is the two-and-half- year old daughter of Mr. Chadrapragasan and Mrs. Thangameena. Her father works for daily wages but does not stay with Amirthalakshmi’s family due to personal issues.  At birth, Amirthalakshmi was diagnosed with Congenital Thoracic Scoliosis, a medical condition in which the spine is curved abnormally from side to side leading to diminished performance of the lungs and heart. The child required a Growth Rod Distraction Technique Surgery and a week of hospitalization support to recover from this condition. Treatments in the local government hospitals did not yield any significant results and her mother, finally, approached Virudhunagar MLA Mr. K. Pandiarajan for help.

Ekam’s Involvement

Mr. K. Pandiarajan referred the case to Ekam’s Patient Welfare Officer, Mr. Charles Robin. Ekam helped raise INR 3,00,000 for Amirthalakshmi through advertisements and personal donors. The child was admitted to a private hospital on 24th June 2013 and underwent surgery on 26th June. She received further hospitalization and medications for six days before getting discharged.

Current Status

Amirthalakshmi had a successful surgery and she now looks like a normal child and is living happily with her family.

Ekam Contact:

Name                          : Mr.Charles Robin

Designation                 : Patient Welfare Officer.

Telephone Number     : 7299002848

Success story

Ahrra Dafiya

December 2013

Name	Ahraa Dafiya
Age	2 months
Sex	Female
Medical Problem	Cardiogenic Shock
Status	Discharged
Date	20th December 2013

Case Background

Baby Ahraa Dafiya is the daughter of Mr Thameen Ansari and Mrs. Benazir Begum. Mr. Thameen works as a salesman and earns about INR 7500 a month and is the sole bread winner of his family. When Ahraa was 40 days old, she was admitted to the Apollo Children's Hospital due to her refusal to feed and frequent irritation. During treatment, she was diagnosed with Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT) with Cardiogenic Shock. Cardiogenic shock is when the heart has been damaged so much that it is unable to supply enough blood to the organs of the body. She received incubation, ventilation, inotropes and IV adenosine at the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The hospitalization costs came to INR 1,57,656 for two days. Her parents were able to muster INR 1,,30000 through an office loan but were unable to arrange for the rest of the amount and further medication charges.

Ekam’s Involvement

Ahrra’s parents explained the family situation to Dr. Suchira Rannjit, the consultant physician. Dr. Suchitra is a regular donor to Ekam Foundation. She called Ekam’s helpline number and requested them to help the family. Ekam supported the child with eight days of hospitalization and the total cost amounted to INR 72850. After five days of ventilator support, the child was discharged. Ekam supported the family with the child’s medical expenses.

           

Current Status

Ahrra Dafiya is now a healthy child and is living happily with her family.

Ekam Contact

Name                          : Dr.Suchitra Ranjit

Designation                 : Pediatrician, HOD- PICU at Apollo Children’s Hospital

Telephone Number     : 9840024456

Success story

Agathiyan

January 2012

Name	Agathiyan
Age	1 Year
Sex	Male
Medical Problem	Meconium Aspiration Syndrome
Status	Discharged
Date	February 2012
YouTube Link	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jut9lTBLyg

Case Background

Agathiyan was born on 11th January 2012 to Mrs. Sangeetha at Chengalpet Government Hospital, Kancheepuram. He is the first child to his parents after seven years of marriage. At birth he was diagnosed with Meconium Aspiration Syndrome, a medical condition in which meconium( a stool) is present in the lungs before or during delivery. Initial treatment was provided by the hospital but there was no improvement in the child’s health.Dr. Sathiya Jagenathan , who works as a nodal officer at the Chengalpet GH, refered the case to Ekam as the child’s parents were unable to afford further treatment.

Ekam’s Involvement

We helped Agathiyan’s parents admit him to Kanchi Kamakoti Child Trust Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where he was treated under ventilator care and received IV fluids for 20 days.  He was discharged as a healthy child on the 2^nd of February 2012. We sincerely thank Mrs.Pramila, Trustee of Women’s Welfare Syndicate for helping us raise funds for Agathiyan through advertisements.

Current Status

Agathiyan is now a healthy child and is living happily with his family.

Ekam Contact

Name                          : Mr.Charles

Designation                 : Patient Welfare Officer

Telephone Number     : 7299002848

Success story

Afrin

May 2011

Name	Afrin
Age	2 years
Sex	Female
Medical Problem	Birth Ashphyxia
Status	Discharged
Youtube Link

Case Background

Afrin is the daughter of Mrs. Balkis Banu and Mr. Abdhyar. She was born on the 8^th  of May, 2011 at Cheyyar Government Hospital, Thiruvannamalai.  Mr. Abdhyar works as a farmer for daily wages. He earns about Rs.150 to 200 per day and is the only earning member of the family.   Afrin was born with a problem called Birth Asphyxia. It is the medical condition resulting from deprivation of oxygen to a newborn infant that lasts long enough during the birth process to cause physical harm, usually to the brain. Hypoxic can cause damage to most of the body’s vital organs like the heart, lungs, liver, gut and kidneys but brain damage is the most critical and most often cause damages that are difficult to be completely healed. In some cases, the infant will survive but with damage to the brain such as developmental delay, intellectual disability or spasticity.

Afrin was treated at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) with ventilator support in Cheyyar Government Hospital but there was hardly any improvement in her health. Due to the critical nature of her illness, her parents were advised to shift the child to a private hospital.

Ekam’s Involvement

The doctors are Cheyyar GH also understood the economic background of the child’s parents and therefore approached Ekam Foundation for medical help. Soon, the child was admitted to Sooriya Private Hospital’s NICU where she received ventilator support and medications for 32 days. Ekam arranged for the medical expenses of the child. The child was finally discharged with good health conditions on the 17^th of June 2011.

Current Status

Afrin is now two years old and living happy with her family.

Ekam Contact

Name                          : Mr.Charles

Designation                 : Patient Welfare Officer

Telephone Number     : 7299002848

Ekam Success story

Abinaya

March 2012

Name	Abinaya
Age	2 years
Sex	Female
Medical Problem	TGA , VSD( Cardiac)
Status	Discharged
Date	19 March 2012

Case Background

Baby Abinaya is the daughter of Mr. Pichandi and Mrs. Usharani . She was born at the Cheyyar Government Hospital as a normal delivery child. When she was one month old, her mother took Abinaya to a nearby Primary Health Centre for Vaccinations. During the procedure of vaccinations, the doctors found that there was some problem in the baby’s health and recommended the parents to take their child to the Institute of Child Healthv(ICH) for further treatment. At the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of ICH, Abinaya was diagnosed with a heart problem called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). The VSD is a defect in the ventricular septum, the wall dividing the left and right ventricles of the heart. The child needed an open heart surgery to recover from this condition.

Ekam’s Involvement

The ICH, Egmore did not have facilities for a open heart surgery for this child and therefore the parents were advised to take the child to a private hospital. Mrs. Kumutha, understood the difficult economic situation of the family and referred the case to Ekam foundation. After validating the case in detail, we shifted the child to Madras Medical Mission Hospital. Abinaya was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and underwent an open heart surgery on the 19^th of March 2013. She was kept for five more days under ventilator care.  The surgery amount was claimed through the Chief Minister’s insurance scheme. Ekam supported the parents with the hospitalization and medical costs incurred.

           

Current Status

Abinaya is now a healthy child and living happy with her family.

Ekam Contact

Name                          : Dr.Kumutha

Designation                 : ICH, EGMORE

New Year Party and an opportunity to save the life of young ones...

 This year is ending soon and we are all looking forward to a healthy and happy 2014.

To bid good bye and to welcome the New Year, a Non Alcoholic Party for the families & children is being held at the TGL Golf Drive behind the ITC Grand Chola Hotel, Guindy on December 31st 2013 from 7.30 PM to midnight byVenconn.

Ekam has partnered with Venconn who has offered to give us  5% of their profits from this event and 10% of the funds raised by Ekam .

While purchasing the ticket if you also  want to save any child's life please enter the Charity Code DHCH14, EKAM will benefit from this purchase. For more information about the show please visit www.eventjini.com 

Right now we are in need of support for 3 children, whose details are mentioned in the links below.

 

1. Baby of Patricia Babu - http://chaintherapy.org/patient_details.php?pid=189

2. Master Vishva             - http://chaintherapy.org/patient_details.php?pid=193

3. Baby Ahraa Dafiya     - http://chaintherapy.org/patient_details.php?pid=195

 

Kindly support this NON Alcoholic New Year event  by attending the party with your family and friends which will eventually be also a support to saving children through EKAM's activities.

A great entertainment is lined up;

Fusion Music by the Music by Rajesh Vaidya (Music Composer & Instrumentalist who has performed internationally)

Foot tapping from Mumbai based Dance troupe Directed by Hormuzd Khumbata (Performed internationally and famous for their performance at the Film Fare and SIIMA Awards)

Punjabi Dhol & Bhangra by Bhangra King P D JATT (The Only Bhangra group selected to dance with the legendary King of POP, Micheal Jackson)

Fashion Show by Sunil Menon (Top Fashion Show Director)

Sand Art by Raghavedra Hegde (Internationally famous and unique for creating images by hand using sand)

Fireworks using Pyrotechnics 

Veg & Non Veg Buffet Dinner, served by The Park Hotels, Chennai

 

The Master of Ceremony is the most popular Compere Divyadarshini (DD) of Vijay TV Fame

Co-comperes are Imman Annachi & Erode Mahesh

Loads of Prizes & Gifts for Families & Kids

Tickets to this entertainment program are available for online purchase at www.eventjini.com or by calling their hotline number 7660402888.

May the New year bring in perfect  health , lots of love and abundance in  life :-).

NGO to recruit, train nurses for PHCs across TN - News on Ekam, HINDU - 09/12/2013

NGO to recruit, train nurses for PHCs across TN

Ekam Foundation is partnering with the government; will provide training on a host of aspects

source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/ngo-to-recruit-train-nurses-for-phcs-across-tn/article5437246.ece

Ekam Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working for child and maternal healthcare, will soon recruit and train 741 nurses to be posted at primary health centres (PHC) functioning under the directorate of public health across the State.

The training will be on obstetrics, neonatal, paediatrics, adolescent care and emergency management.

In addition, Ekam will also train 192 government staff nurses in maternal and child healthcare, and also on the assessment of infrastructure and sanitation in PHCs, based on Unicef’s tools designed for accreditation.

“We outsourced the recruitment of nurses through Ekam Foundation to run our neonatal intensive care units at medical college hospitals and government hospitals. This is basically a public-private-partnership to provide better care for newborns,” an official of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project said.

Recently, the NGO participated in RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health + Adolescent Health care), a workshop held in the city. Officials from the National Rural Health Mission, Unicef and the State health department were also present. “The recruitment of nurses is going on and will be completed by December 14,” said B. Sailakshmi, paediatrician and founder of Ekam.

At present, around 2,300 nurses recruited by Ekam are working across the State. This includes 640 at special newborn care units, 340 at newborn stabilisation units and 1,212 in non- communicable diseases intervention programmes at PHCs, additional PHCs and urban PHCs, said Manoj Chandra Hemandri, State programme officer, Ekam.

“The government staff nurses will be trained on various aspects including neonatal and paediatric advanced life support, paediatric emergency care as well as integrated management of neonatal and childhood illnesses,” he said.

Training on assessing infrastructure and sanitation gaps at hospitals will be provided based on RMNCH+A guidelines. Following this, these nurses will become master trainers and train other nurses on these aspects, Mr. Hemandri said.