According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 1 in 700 new-borns in India is born with cleft lip and cleft palate; nearly 35,000 children are born with this condition annually.
The starting medical cost of a cleft surgery is approx. INR 25,000, which poses a challenge for low-income families. DeliverHealth, in partnership with United Way Bengaluru, supported 27 cleft surgeries in Varanasi for children belonging to low-income families.
78% of the beneficiaries are infants below the age of 2 years, thereby reducing disability-affected life years and helping the children integrate into society at the earliest possible age.
Under the CSR intervention, the overall development of 50 girls was supported, including their nutrition, education support through stationery, books, uniforms, etc., and counselling as well as the maintenance of the shelter home and capacity building of the staff from Sanrakshan. The shelter home takes care of victims of child abuse, child marriage, child labour, and other social issues.
“There is a need to bridge the gap in India’s widening gap in affordable healthcare. We are glad to have been partnering with DeliverHealth for the past few years and leveraging their CSR support to reach out to socially and economically backward communities and empower them by making health facilities available and accessible, ” said Rajesh Krishnan, CEO of United Way Bengaluru.
Towards promoting higher education for underprivileged students, DeliverHealth also provided scholarships to Engineering & Diploma students from economically backward communities. Last year, 63 students were covered, and this year 47 students (including 32 new students) from Bengaluru & Mysuru were supported. Volunteers from DeliverHealth proactively got engaged in the scholarship program by participating in the beneficiary selection, conducting interviews and finalizing the candidates for awarding the scholarship.
“DeliverHealth has a long-standing commitment to sustainability rooted in it’s core values and operations. When we integrate sustainable development into our business strategy, we add value for all our stakeholders, including the communities in which we operate. We are glad to have partnered with United Way Bengaluru for the last three years, and we are confident that together we will continue to carry out CSR initiatives and design CSR programs that will create long-term impact for underserved communities.”, said Gautam Kumar, VP & Director, DeliverHealth India