IFRE: Delhi, India Nandini Raghuraman MS-2

India  Largest democracy in the world  Population: 1,147,995,898 (July, 2008)  Life expectancy at birth: years  Sex ratio: 1.06 male(s)/female  41.6% of population living below the international poverty line

A Nation of Many Tongues  Hindi is the national language  14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskri

Healthcare in India  No third party paying mechanism  Employees State Insurance, Central Government Health Scheme, Business Corporations  80% of primary care is delivered in private institutions “…one episode of hospitalization [in India] is estimated to account for 58% of per capita annual expenditure…even more disconcerting is the fact that 40% of those hospitalized had to borrow money or sell off assets.” (World Bank, 2002)

Healthcare cont’d  Average of 1.5 beds/1000  Lack of healthcare facilities in semi-urban and rural areas, where 70% of the Indian population resides  Government healthcare facilities are poorly maintained  Major obstacles: lack of resources, a manually operated health management information system, lack of focus on preventative care, gender disparity

My Project  Institute of Field Research and Expedition (IFRE)  International volunteer program that has projects set up in 18 different countries.  Education, healthcare, orphanage work, specific issues.  My specific project: Healthcare in Delhi, India 1) Voluntary ambulance work serving the underprivileged elderly. 2) Pediatric work in a children’s hospital.

HelpAge  Non-profit organization established to serve and improve the lives of disadvantaged older population  Mobile medical care unit set up to provide basic medical care  In country of 81 million elderly people, 33% live below the poverty line.  73% of the elderly population is illiterate and dependent on physical labor.

Kalra Childcare Centre  Private 2-floor hospital  Run by a single doctor, Dr. Rajan Kalra  Malaria, hepatitis, measles, tapeworm, viral fever  Vaccinations  Neonatology  Nursery clinic

Nursery Clinic

Cultural Experience  Host family  Transportation to and from projects- Rickshaws  Indian meals- 3x a day  Language practice  Markets  Sightseeing on weekends

Sightseeing  New Delhi  Old Delhi  Agra  Jaipur  Great way to learn about Indian history.

Prices IFRE Program Fee$881 Airfare$1800 Vaccinations$200 Transportation (in India)$45 Sightseeing $200 $3126

Thank you !