Naini Hospital, India
Naini Hospital, located in North India, was first opened in 1830 and is now one of the largest leprosy regional referral centres in the area. Patients come from all over northern India to receive treatment at Naini.
Hospital facilities include 110 beds in the patient wing, a 40-bed Snehalaya (a home where TLM offers holistic care including shelter, healthcare, love and spiritual support) for severely disabled patients and a host of other services such as X-ray, physiotherapy, laboratory, surgery, ophthalmology and more. The hospital also has a general out-patient department that works on a pay-as-you-can basis. Naini Hospital supports and comforts those with leprosy in many critical areas, including:
- Treatment of leprosy and its complications
- Providing protective footwear, reconstructive surgery and home therapy
- Teaching self-care, ulcer care and health education
- Training of local, NGO and government health professionals in various aspects of leprosy
- Community rehabilitation, self help groups and low cost housing
- Special care for Snehalaya (mercy home) patients
- Community education through the Catch Them Young (CTY) program and stigma reduction
Leprosy prevalence in this area is 4.8/10,000 - almost 5 times higher than a region deemed by the WHO to have eliminated leprosy as a public health problem. The presence of Naini here is critical. People with leprosy suffer from both physical and social effects of the disease and TLM offers them the care they need.
Naini Hospital has earned a great reputation for compassionate and affordable general health care - but leprosy care continues to be the first and foremost concern. Adding more general care will only strengthen the hospital's presence in the community and add to Naini's capacity to treat leprosy patients. Naini remains a centre of excellence for leprosy care in North India.
The ophthalmic program at Naini Hospital completes hundreds of cataract surgeries a year for patients who have little or no resources to pay for medical treatment. These surgeries were possible because of funds given by TLM Canada donors that were sent to Naini hospital.
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A Family's Future Changed Forever
Saroj lives in the tiny Indian village of Diha in India. Poverty strikes at every level, in every way.
Her husband passed away, leaving the family to mourn his loss and sending them deeper into poverty. To stay alive, Saroj was forced to spend her savings and mortgage her small piece of land to support the family in his absence.
Then the unthinkable happened: Saroj was diagnosed with leprosy.
Saroj struggled through her household chores, her feet and hands numb. Ulcers spread over her feet. She had no cure, no way to heal these sores, and they multiplied daily. But Saroj needed to keep working, needed to stay on her feet.
Without money, she could no longer pay the school. Her older children, Sheelu and Khushboo, had to stay home to help their mother. For these children each new day looked bleak and desolate.
Saroj’s life, while it seemed full of dark clouds and hopelessness for the future, could still experience hope.
Saroj received the medical care she needed to treat her leprosy. Naini Hospital’s excellent care and its unconditional policy to never turn people away meant that Saroj got the aid she needed.
With help from TLM, her roof was repaired, providing two extra rooms for her family to take shelter in. Also, through the Mission's Catch Them Young program, Sheelu, Khushboo and their siblings are now able to go to school!
Fast Facts:- Naini Community Hospital is located near Allahabad, India
- This city of more than 2 million is surrounded by 3,000 villages
- Education is a luxury few can afford
- The area is significant for Hindu pilgrims because of its location at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers
- Naini Hospital sees over 40,000 patients each year (for both leprosy and non-leprosy concerns)
- The physiotherapy department at Naini completes over 12,000 assessments a year
- 842 ulcer, 307 reconstructive, 755 ophthalmologic and 212 general surgeries were performed last year
- Patients at Naini hospital often travel hundreds of miles to be treated, and families often camp out near the hospital
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