What is the new Sambhavna Trust Clinic building?The ideas for the new building evolved through discussions among the Sambhavna staff and the board of trustees. Discussions centered around creating a model setting for appropriate healthcare, participatory research and empowering health education. It was envisioned that the new clinic building would be a place where people coming for care would also benefit from the space, tranquility and natural vegetation. Areas for community involvement in medicine growing and manufacturing, and participation in monitoring and research studies were part of this vision of a new clinic building. Shri Kishore Charavarti and Shri Yatin Choudhary, both architects have been working with Vishnu Chilotre, a civil engineer, to turn our ideas of a new Sambhavna into a building design. Their designs and costing were approved after rigorous examination by expert consultants of the Pro Victimis Foundation. So thorough was this examination that an expert in Ayurveda was specially brought in to assess the design of the Panchakarma clinic. As per the design, the new building will have a built-up area of over 17,000 sq. ft. on the first floor. There will be a basement Yoga hall measuring little over 1000 sq. ft. and a separate medicine-manufacturing unit of 4000 sq. ft. The ground floor will house the entire medical care unit along with office and documentation centre. The first floor will have two meeting halls and guest accommodation covering an area of 3000 sq. ft. The main features of the building will be openness (there will be two grassy courtyards within the building), maximum use of natural light and sun, easy access to all parts of the clinic, use of non-toxic building materials and minimal noise. What additional facilities will the new building have? The new building will have additional rooms for mental health care, allopathic care, Panchakarma and a much more spacious Dominique Lapierre City of Joy Sambhavna Gynaecology clinic. It will also have a cytology laboratory, a hall for training healthworkers from the community, rooms for researchers and volunteers to work and a canteen that will serve organic healthfoods and inexpensive nutritional supplements. Sambhavna will also acquire additional diagnostic equipment including ultra sonograph, spirometer, neurological testing and other equipment. Why does Sambhavna need this new clinic building?
How much will the new building cost?According to the estimate prepared by Shri Kishore Chakravarti the building will cost a little over Rs. 1 crore. The cost of two acres of land on which the new building and the medicinal plant farm will be located is Rs. 30 lakhs. Where will the money for building the clinic come from?The money for the building and the plot of land will be coming from Foundation Pro Victimis (FPV), Geneva, Switzerland. This foundation was established with the objective of bringing assistance to forgotten victims of natural and man-made disasters. Since 1990, it has financially supported projects in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle-East. In India, FPV is currently supporting a SEVAI project of construction of solid houses for flood victims in the Trichirappalli district. Over the past decade, the Foundation has supported seven projects in India. Given that the victims of the Bhopal disaster are largely forgotten the project falls well within the Foundation's criteria. Once this was established, the Foundation became interested in supporting the new clinic on the basis of the quality of the services provided by Sambhavna and the merits of the construction proposal. Where will the money for running the clinic in the new building come from?The expansion of the work of Sambhavna and the creation of new facilities is expected to lead to a threefold increase in the trust's expenditures. We expect that the additional funds required will come from the same sources that Sambhavna has relied upon for the last five years. Sambhavna has mainly depended upon small donations given by over 5,000 people from all walks of life in India, the UK, the USA and Japan. These donations are sent in response to appeals published in newspapers and newsletters. The Sambhavna Trust has also received over Rs. 14 lakhs from the foundation set up by Mr Dominique Lapierre. Both Mr Dominique Lapierre and Mr Javier Moro have decided to donate a substantial proportion of their royalties from their book, It was five past midnight in Bhopal, towards supporting the work of Sambhavna in the new building. Where will the new clinic building stand?The new clinic building will be situated in Bapna Colony less than half a kilometer south of the Union Carbide factory. At this location, the clinic will be easily accessible for the severely affected survivors from Jaiprakash Nagar from the north, from Chhola and Phuta Maqbara from the east, from Kabadkhana and Ibrahimganj from the south and from Qazi Camp in the west. Our achievementsWe have developed safe, effective and inexpensive treatment methods for particular symptoms or symptom complexes. At Sambhavna we provide free treatment to the gas victims on the basis of their symptoms or symptom complexes. Here persons coming for medical care can chose to be treated through allopathy, Ayurveda (Panchakarma) and Yoga. We do our best to follow the principle of "first do no harm" and try to minimise the use of unnecessary and harmful drugs. 2.7% of the drugs used in the clinic in year 2000 were found to be unnecessary and harmful by our consultant pharmacologist. Their use has since been stopped. While providing treatment we constantly monitor the effect of the particular therapy. Constant efforts are being made towards developing treatment protocols for specific symptom complexes. We have demonstrated efficacy and public acceptance of Ayurveda and Yoga in treatment of exposure-related illnesses. Drugs for symptomatic relief have been the mainstay of medical care since the morning of the disaster. The indiscriminate prescription of steroids, antibiotics and psychotropic drugs are compounding the damage caused by the gas exposure. Realising the harmful effects of drugs used in the treatment of gas victims we have introduced Yoga as a drug free therapy and Ayurveda as a therapy based on use of medicinal herbs. Persons coming for treatment have shown their faith and interest in these therapies. We have been able to provide long term and sustained relief in the treatment of gas-induced disorders through these therapies. We have presented objective data to show superior efficacy of Yoga therapy in the treatment of respiratory disorders. With an objective to document changes in lung function parameters among survivors with chronic respiratory disorders we started a research study in year 1997. Between 1997 and April 1999, 26 gas survivors were included in our study. They were instructed in different yoga techniques for about 15 days and then, over a period of six months, different parameters were measured to assess the effect of yoga practice on their lung functions. The results of this study showed significant increase in lung functions of the persons in the study and reduction in the use of medicines. We have generated data to draw attention to neglected areas of research on health consequences of the disaster. As an effort towards generation of data to draw attention towards the neglected areas of health problems, we started personal interviews with the gas-affected teenage girls about their menstrual problems and have prepared a report based on data generated through this exercise. In the year 2001, with the help of one of our voluntary workers, we gathered data on the physical growth of persons born between 1982 and 1986. This data shows that the next generation of survivors is also affected by their parents’ exposure to Carbide's gases. In order to tackle tuberculosis, we have developed a community-based program on TB care. This program consists mainly of health education, identification of persons with TB, prevention of the disease and supervision of treatment and constant health monitoring. As part of this program our healthworkers provide health education in the gas-effected communities and carry out door-to-door surveys. A person identified with the symptoms of the disease is encouraged to visit the DOT centre for sputum/x-ray test and necessary medicines. The health status of persons receiving care from the DOT centre is constantly monitored. Much of the work of TB healthcare programme is shared by "health leaders" who are recovered TB patients. The "health leaders" who are mainstay of the program provide much effective inspiration and guidance. We raise awareness by imparting health education. The contamination of groundwater in the neighbourhood of the Union Carbide factory is a serious problem, and was even before the disaster in 1984. Official and unofficial studies (including one carried out by Greenpeace in 1999) have established the presence of highly toxic heavy metals and organic chemicals that cause cancer and severe damage to almost every system in the body, in the groundwater. Thanks to years of official neglect, for thousands of families in about 10 communities, this is the only source of drinking water. With the objective of making people aware of the long-term adverse health effects of drinking polluted groundwater and encouraging them to organise themselves to remedy the situation, we started our health education programme in Atal Ayub Nagar in July 2000. Perceptible change was seen within two months of carrying out this programme with the help of a series of posters. The residents of Atal Ayub Nagar collectively laid down their demands for safe drinking water before the local Collector. In September 2000 six water tanks with the capacity of 10.000 litres of water were placed at different places in Atal Ayub Nagar and water tanks were arranged for filling water from another part of the city in to those tanks every day. We believe that full participation of the individuals in a community is crucial for the success of any community-based health programme. Through educational campaigns and meetings we have encouraged the formation of health committees in four communities. The members of these committees voluntarily accept responsibilities for identification of individuals in need of medical attention, counselling regarding treatment, organising meetings and holding health camps in the communities. We have generated national and international support for the Bhopal survivors. Through advertisements in various national and international newspapers we have been able to generate national and international support and compassion for the Bhopal gas victims. Since the 10th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, we have received about £70,000 pounds through personal donations from more than 5,000 individuals. Along with the monetary support we have also received the voluntary services of many individuals from India and abroad. In July 1999 the Sambhavna Trust was awarded the Tajiri Muneaki prize for “meritorious services rendered to the victims of Bhopal gas disaster”. This award was given in memory of late Mr Tajiri Muneaki, who campaigned against industrial pollution and occupational hazards in Japan. The other co-prize winners were the late Teruo Kawamoto who fought for the rights of the victims of the Chisso Corporation in Minamata and an association to protect Fujimae tidal flats in Aichi. Our special features
Sambhavna's expenditureSambhavna's annual expenditure in running the Bhopal People's Health and Documentation clinic is so far under Rs. 20 lakhs. Major expenses have been salaries, medicines and equipment, and seminars Other expenses include maintenance, furniture, tax charges and fees, publications and travelling. The clinic runs on a very tight budget requiring judicious attention to all expenditures. Income and expenditure statements of Sambhavna are prepared and audited for every financial year (April to March). The expansion of work of the work of Sambhavna and the creation of better facilities in the new building is expected to lead to a fourfold increase in the Trust's expenditure. We still need your help in raising awareness and funds. How to donate money for the new clinicBack to top |