Free medical services/ benefits are nothing new to India or Tamil Nadu. There are not many countries in the world which provide the women service  free of medical consultancy as well as hospital facilities through government agency like in India. This effort is really laudable because the intent of the government hospitals and primary health care centers is loud and clear that it is meant for the poor.

Considering the volume of patients suffering from several chronic diseases, the Tamil Nadu Foundation believes that there is still lot of room for any additional services for providing medical consultancy for the poor. Many of these people are in not in a position that they can either afford to travel to government hospitals or receive quality advice.

During my recent visit to Tamil Nadu, my wife Kasthuri and I had an opportunity to discuss with some of my young friends and relatives most of whom are practicing doctors in Tirunelveli and Madurai Districts. Some of these doctors are already spending a portion of their time in providing free medical services to certain deserving patients who cannot afford to go to doctors. With this outlook in mind and with the enthusiasm and vigor of these doctors as an outstanding resource, I was able to decipher that my doctor friends are more than willing to participate in a camp that will provide free medical consultancy for extremely poor and chronic patients. The purpose of this article is to spur some interest within the Tamil community and receive their comments to efficiently organize such an onerous task. The question may be asked: what does Tamil Nadu Foundation have to do with this? The TNF has always associated itself with several such noble tasks and has set the role model position in Tamil Nadu. The subject ( one or two days) camp can be so scheduled that our doctor friends in the USA can travel to India and provide their expertise during theses camps. Certain medicines that may not be available in India may be provided by the help of our doctor friends and the Tamil community as a whole. The idea is that a project of this type and magnitude can be run with outstanding humanitarian services at minimal economic requirements. These are only a few ideas that came to my mind while I was drafting this letter. There may be several more.

The first camp is being contemplated to be held in either in Tirunelveli or Courtallam in Tirunelveli District during the summer/ fall 1996. The local rotary club was contacted and they are extremely interested in associating themselves, providing assistance in building the infrastructure, and helping to conduct the camp successfully. I hope that TNF will agree with me in naming this project after the great freedom fighter and the great Tamil Poet of the century.

Scope and Logistics of the Camp

As mentioned previously, the camp will provide the necessary medical services for the extremely poor suffering from chronic ailments. Preference will be given to poor children, orphans and destitute women. Approximately ten or more doctors will be participating in this camp that will be conducted for one or two days (preferably Saturday/ Sunday). The doctors will bring their assistants/nurses to the camp sites.

The rotary club will screen the patients earlier for eligibility based on a simple evaluation forms. My doctor friends indicated that there are several pharmaceutical companies that will be thrilled to participate in such camps because the camp will serve as an outstanding source of advertisement for them. Industrialists and banks will be contacted for sponsoring the food and stay for the doctors and their assistants. One of the doctors indicated to spare his hospital facilities for the subject camp days. Given that a high volume of population is expected to show up, that may not be a good idea. The rotary club will help identifying the camp location. As indicated doctors/ specialists from the US will be encouraged to coordinate their travel to accommodate one or two days of their time during their trip to India. Some of the doctors/ dentists from the US have agreed to do their best.

This is a TNF project meant for a noble cause. Please provide your input. You are more than welcome to contact me (Dr. Gomes Ganapathi, Vice President, TNF) or my wife Kasthuri any time. Our home phone number is (423)481-0440. My office number is (423)241-5232 and my wife's office number is (423)220-2296.

The contact persons in Tamil Nadu for Tirunelveli / Madurai Districts are Dr. K. Shunmuganathan (04637-20777) and Mr. S. K. Subramanian , President-elect- Rotary Club (04637-20216).


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