Intel Volunteers Involed Projects

Treatment of 50 poor Filariasis patients on OP basis for 14 days and training the family member to continue the self help, family member assisted ,home based integrative care of the sick.

Objective

To reduce the disability and reinstall the poor LF patients back to Job so that the sufferings of the dependent family is lessened.
To train them with various components of the above treatment.
To give counseling support to overcome the disability and to face the challenges in life.
To improve the quality of life of these patients and their depended family members.

Problem Statement

WHO classified Elephantiasis as a ‘neglected disease of the poor’ because there is so little research into this tropical disease and both allopathic pharmaceutical industry and Governments have ignored causation for too long. One third of the world’s LF patients live in India. Elephantiasis causes appalling disfigurement with estimated losses of $1 billion annually torural economy5. Most patients are in villages disabled by their swollen legs and suffer repeated, additional fever episodes. Many were once their familie’s; bread winners.
Since the integrative treatment developed by IAD got publicity and recognition lot of patients started attending the initial counseling secession.60-70% of these patients are coming from poor families or they have become poor by ‘doctor shopping’ for the effective treatment . There are instances that few patients either sold their houses or the spouses gold to avail the treatment to collect the fund for the treatment even though the cost of treatment for the initial 14 days is as low as 15 thousand rupees .
With the proposed work we will select such 10 beneficiaries and support for the initial 14 days treatment . this may be first step towards elimination of disability and eradication of Filariasis with corporate private partnership.

Background

The Institute of Applied Dermatology (IAD) developed a self care, home based, patient led, ethical and evidence based therapy combining ayurveda, yoga therapy and biomedicine on a pathophysiological basis derived from biomedicine. IAD treatment reduces disability and lost working days of elephantiasis patients, many of whom are poor, through ‘treatment powerment’ and training.

IAD demonstrated to peers the efficacy & scientific basis of integrated self care treatment in the two previous national seminars,14,15 This research was mentored by Emeritus Professor T J Ryan (Department of Dermatology, Oxford Medical School) and was supported as an extramural project of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment, Thiruvananthapuram (KSCSTE), during 2004-05. Both the Indian Council for Medical Research, New Delhi, (ICMR) & KSCSTE supported the peer review of this treatment protocol (pilot study) during the first National seminar on Evidence Based and Integrated Medicine for Lymphatic Filariasis, other Chronic Dermatoses and HIV/AIDS on February 200510. Later the International Society of Lymphology awarded its president’s prize to this study during the 20th international congress of Lymphology held at Brazil (2005) and ICMR discussed this protocol in the medical development congress (2006).
Our treatments (//www.u.arizona.edu/~witte/contents/2007.40.1.narahari.pdf ) are the first to show consistent reduction in symptoms of elephantiasis often allowing patients return to work. Patient empowerment enables it to be practiced at home using local resources. Editorials in European & American journals (//www.u.arizona.edu/~witte/contents/2007.40.1.witte.pdf ) discussed about what is happening in Kasaragod and its impact over practice world wide.
We are associated with Lymphoedema Framework, London, International Skin care Nursing Group, Bournemouth University, England; International Cochrane Skin Centre, Nottingham & JBI Australia -for Evidence Based Dermatology. The Health Department of the Canadian Government has published our protocol on their official website (//www.lymphovenous-canada.ca/shleepadaregieme.htm
The brief details of this intervention also appears on WHO’s web-based platform, Tropical Disease Research to foster Innovation and Knowledge Application (//www.tropika.net/svc/news/20080226/Souza20080226a),created for the acquisition, review and sharing of current information and knowledge on potential innovations for interventions and control of infectious diseases of poverty13.
In meeting the challenge of millions patients disabled by elephantiasis we have adopted a pioneering role evolved under many headings: poverty alleviation, morbidity control, integrative medicine, self care, home based, concordance, patient led, ethical and evidence based. We done so in part because break in transmission is occurring and the elimination of filariasis are led by GAELF. Our priority is low cost and self care interventions without long-term hospitalization, expensive drugs or technical regulation.
Awards: International Society of Lymphology President’s Prize, 2005, and a Gold Medal for our work on Ayurveda as Evidence Based Medicine, 2006. That year, the ICMR recognized our protocol as a ‘New Medical Development of India’.
Excellence in lymphoedema treatment in April 2009 by 1st international lymphoedema conference by JOL,Wounds UK and Lymphoedema Framework, London

Work done by the Intel staff

Periodic evaluation of the various programmes of the institution.
Hands on support on designing the policy manual for the organization.
Review and suggest for redesigning the website.
Developing a media strategy to increase the visibility of the organization.
Capacity building for the administrative work force.
Helping in strategy development for continuing the public good activity.
Development and fine tuning various strategy for scaling up the services of the needy.

Methodology

Identify and select the beneficiary: Ten poor Filariasis patients will be selected as the beneficiaries of this programme. The opinion of the local social animators to which the patient belongs to will be taken as one of the parameter for selection. Patients having a very poor quality of life score will be included in the list. The family having minimum resource to spend for the continuation of the home based care is assential to ensure the sustainability of the programme
Training – Training of the patient and one of the family member on the all the different components of the treatment protocol. The emphasis will be given for those components which needs a third persons support to practice the self care at home .Skin wash, massage and compression along with preparation of phanta will be taught to the patients family members.
A self care training to the patient himself will be given during the 14 days supervised care at IAD each patient will be given skin wash , phanta soaking, pretreatment yogasana, dry and oil massage and compression .
The patient information sheet will be distributed during the counseling secessions to the family members along with a medical kit for the next one month hame base care

Outcome

20-25% reduction in the girth and volume of affected limb with in 14 days. Improved quality of life of 10 LF patients and their family members.

Intel Volunteers Involed Projects

Nursing Education

Reaching Lymphatic Filariasis people at Gulbarga

School survey project

Treatment Sponsorship For Poor Patients