Healthcare, Kolkata – IKP Foundation

IKP Foundation supporting organization: Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan

Healthcare in India is not streamlined in the best interest of the people. For a serious disease, it may vary from an expensive world-class treatment to an herbal or homeopathic treatment which costs far less but is clinically unacceptable. Uncontrolled costs and lack of public understanding of a disease and its proper care are major problems. In 1939 a group of monks of Ramakrishna Mission set up a maternity clinic to support both mothers and babies. Later, the clinic turned into a major low-cost hospital in the City of Kolkata.

At present, the Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan with 684 beds (2020) offers all major medical services including Community Health care for people in semi-urban and interior village areas. With a mobile medical unit, the medical personnel visited more than thirty villages, twice a week, advising people on health and hygiene problems, offering free immunization and domiciliary treatment (2020). Details of their services are available in the annual report for April 2020 to March 2021 (web: www.rkmsevapratishthan.org).

Project progress: Members of the IKP Foundation visited the place in March 2022 and offered financial support that would be part of a pool of funds for Community Health Services. Therefore, the overall progress can be obtained from the RKMSP published annual report.

IKP Foundation support: The Foundation started supporting this project in 2022 to improve the health of semi-urban and village communities. IKPF’s contribution is part of a pool of funds of RKMSP.