Media

Mangaluru: For these bunch of doctors, charity began during their college days.
Now it has been helping to make a difference among children and elders from poor sections of society, who cannot afford healthcare.
Paediatric and Gerlatric Care Foundation, better known by the name PG Care, started by doctors and like-minded people, which is working across the globe, has been helping poor children receive medical treatment. From 2013, more than 65 patients from at least four Indian states have been benefited and have received a new lease of life due to their efforts.

PG Care Foundation was started by a group of doctors from the Karnataka Medical College, Hubballi, who forethought the necessity for such a crowd funding initiative while studying MBBS in the 90s.

It Initially started by organising free _blood donation camps and helping patients with their pocket money.

Dr Shravan Kumar Jyoti, who worked as a pathologist in the Cayman Islands, British West Indies, of the foundation, recalls that seeds of this NGO were sown when a batch of 1990 students volunteered to help aged patients In an old age ho- me under the guidance of Dr Suma Chakravarthy Confidence in crowd funding came about when the 1990 batch of KMC, Hubballi, collected Rs 550 for a poor woman who needed money for anti-D globulin injection, when she was pregnant with her first child. The woman was sent to the boys’ hostel by pranksters, when she was begging for funds on the road.

The idea and Impetus to start such an organization ca- me when a poor three-year old girl, Vani, died due to lack of funds for the treatment of a progressing retinoblastoma. The news of the fund collection drive appeared in one of the dailies, and news of the poor girl’s demise due to lack of funds as the tumour progressed in the intervening period, also appeared in the publication.

Explaining the activities taken up by the foundation, he said the primary activity taken up by the foundation is social service with the motto of fun- ding the treatment of poor and needy children, when a major curable illness threatens the life of a child.

Case Reviewed Thoroughly

“The NGO’s role comes into play when the near and dear ones the afflicted cannot bear the cost of treatment. The foundation diligently searches for hospitals that are also wiling to help patients, and forms partnerships, The particular case, requirements of the patient, and the financial status of the parents is considered thoroughly by a decision-makings group of 20 doctors from all specialities, who work voluntarily at the foundation, before the decision S support a case is taken. The carefully deli- berated amount is transferred directly to the hospital to enable the child to got free treatment,’ he elaborates.

SS create public awareness and collect funds, the 140 members of the organization actively conduct fund raising events and approach those Interested to support them through social media. The charity trust received tax exemption under 80G from January 2016.Tax returns are filed every year. The plan for the future is to address geriatric care in a similar fashion. The foundation’s founding members include Dr Shravan, Dr Adinarayanan (JIPMER Puducherry), Dr VitthalKrishna (Solapur), Praveen KR (Mangaluru) and Ashish Gaud (Bengaluru) who met in Bengaluru to formally launch PG Care in August 2013.

Success Stories

While it was another usual night for others, fate had different plans for 10year-old Ningaiah, the son of a labourer. The family had migrated to Bengaluru a few weeks earlier from Raichur, and the father was still looking for a job. Ningaiah was sleeping on the floor along with his parents, when a venomous snake bit him and he became unconscious with signs of neurotoxicity. The poor parents immediately took him to a private tertiary care centre in Bengaluru, albeit without hope of his recovery. He was kept in the ICU on ventilator support for five days with a slim chance of making it. They were in desperate need for financial assistance to continue their son’s life-saving treatment.

Although the hospital had waived a majority of the charges, funds were needed to take care of other minimum essentials. PG Care Foundation immediately responded after the ho spital contacted them, and funds were collected and sent to treat the child. Seven days later, Ningaiah recovered, thanks to the sheer dedication of the doctors at the hospital, and the support of the foundation.