SSHCS was founded in 1986 in Coimbatore, India to provide free primary healthcare for the most disadvantaged communities of that region. For many families, fruits, vegetables and milk are almost impossible to afford due to the depression of poverty and the burden of debt. Not surprisingly, SSHCS doctors found that malnutrition is the most widespread, reoccurring illness in the region. Knowing that the malnutrition problem would not be solved unless there was some kind of economic change, in 1996, doctors at the clinic started Shiva Shakthi, an organization that provides job trade training to improve the patients’ economic stability and independence. Shiva Shakthi has trained over 500 women and currently employs 150 women.
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SSHCS treats approximately 100 patients a day in the outpatient department and practices preventive healthcare for women and children. The health center is the sole source of medical care for the women and their families who work with Shiva Shakthi. It provides the women with services such as health & nutritional education, immunization, family planning, reproductive care for adolescents, gynecological care, cancer screening and neo-natal care. All services are provided at no cost to the patients.
To diagnose patients, the center needs to take blood and urine tests. But without a semi-automatic analyzer, the doctors need to outsource the samples to be tested in external laboratories, which costs SSHCS about $6,500 a year. Investing in a semi-automatic analyzer would cut the cost down to $4,000 a year. The remaining $2,500 the center would save would allow them to recoup the investment in about 1.5 years.
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