Public Health
India is home to nearly 1.4 billion people, 28% of whom live below the national poverty line and face critical public health hurdles. Each year around 63 million citizens are pushed into poverty due to high out of pocket medical expenses, while 600 million lack access to essential health services. Despite recent gains, major health issues persist – India ranks first globally in tuberculosis incidence, anemia affects over 70% of women and children in many states, and an estimated 14% of older adults suffer from cataracts.
At the Brij Foundation, we aim to strengthen and amplify the impact of local non-profits by funding targeted medical interventions, improving infrastructure, and raising awareness. Through initiatives like anemia-focused rural health camps, school sanitation projects, free cataract surgeries, and clean water programs, we work to ensure equitable access to essential care for India’s most vulnerable communities.
Health Camps in rural Rajasthan
Anemia is the most common nutritional deficiency disorder in the world. Iron-deficiency anemia has remained the top cause of disability in India for 10 years now, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of the last two Global Burden of Disease (GBD) surveys.
Brij Foundation, in conjunction with the Indian Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), has been organizing health camps and providing training on establishing kitchen gardens in villages on the periphery of Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan. Promotion of organic vegetable gardening in these areas ensures that women and children consume quality food on a daily basis, thus, ensuring nutrition security. The main aim of this program is to combat anemia, especially among women and children.
Bathrooms for Female Students
In the flood-devastated Uttarakhand province in the upper echelons of the Himalayas, schools are few and far between. These schools do not have adequate facilities, including bathrooms that meet the baseline sanitation requirements for girls.
Brij Foundation has constructed bathrooms for girls and upgraded the existing pathways and assembly hall for students at Government Inter College, Bhiri, District Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand. We also made the provision of a water tank for the mid-day meal kitchen.
Cataract Surgeries
An estimated 253 million people live with vision impairment: 36 million are blind and 217 million have moderate to severe vision impairment. Thankfully, 75% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured. In fact, half of the world’s blindness is caused by cataracts, a condition that can be reversed with a 15-minute operation.
Through ICare Hospital in Noida, we have helped dozens of elderly and poor patients receive cataract surgery. Patients are admitted for three days and are given free meals, medicines as well as free transportation to and from their homes.
Clean Water
Water is life and clean water means health. In India over a lakh of people die every year as they do not have access to safe drinking water. Brij Foundation has started a new initiative to ensure safe and adequate drinking water in schools and hospitals. Our first reverse osmosis water system for clean water was established at ICare Hospital, Noida.