Mission: India
Overview:
Jamkhed is located in the state of Maharashtra, India. Since 2009, the Freedom From Poverty Foundation has been working in partnership with the CHRP (Comprehensive Rural Health Project) in Jamkhed. The Freedom From Poverty Foundation has been helping the most disadvantaged for over 45 years. This partnership ensures a permanent physical presence in the community of Jamkhed for continuity of care and to ensure easier follow-up for the community. Through surgical, educational, and community-based missions, both organisations aim to break the cycle of poverty by providing access to health care and fostering independence.
Our missions operate at Julia Hospital in Jamkhed. The hospital has 50 beds and two operating rooms. Julia Hospital has basic laboratory tests and X-Ray’s. There are international surgery camp missions that take place 5 to 6 times per year. Julia Hospital serves a rural, underprivileged population and provides low-cost secondary care to half a million people. They are open 24 hours a day for emergencies and from 9am-5pm for basic outpatient care. Services are provided to patients on a sliding payment scale: patients pay what they can afford. If the patients cannot afford anything, services are provided free of charge.
Objectives:
In February 2020, PSF conducted an evaluation mission to Julia Hospital. PSF assessed areas of need based on benchmarks from a variety of international resources. PSF created an initial development plan (for the next 2-3 years).
Our objectives are as follows:
Expand the local medication formulary
Systematize the pharmacy, the unit medication storage, and the OR medication storage
Implement crash carts for each operating room
Implement protocols for the management of emergencies
Implement tools for the administration of injectable drugs
Implement tools for the preparation of medication required for dressing
Review the operating room carts
Implement local guidelines for the use of antibiotics for the treatment of different types of infection
When the initial development plan is complete, we will continue our partnership with the Freedom From Poverty Foundation. We hope to implement a pictogram system that will help inform patients and caregivers about appropriate use of medications. This project will require a longer mission commitment that will be evaluated after the pandemic situation
Team Members:
Sabrina Sanzari (Mission Lead)
Aurea Agbossou in (November 2020)
Alex Aquilino Vigneault (February 2021)
Collaboration:
For the evaluation mission, Sabrina Sanzan joined a surgery team from Montreal (surgeons, anesthetists, nurses and respirologists) that were going to Julia Hospital for a surgery camp mission. She was able to aid in the operating room. Sabrina received feedback from the surgical team on the changes that would have the most positive impacts.
Sabrina worked with the hospital pharmacist who volunteers at Julia Hospital during surgery camp missions.
PSF worked with the local caregivers and the community workers to determine the best ways to aid the Julia Hospital community.
All the projects that will be implemented at Julia Hospital will have to be adapted to the practices of the surgical teams that come from Australia, Canada and Italy. This adds a layer of complexity to the project.
India Mission Interview with Victoria Jamieson and Sabrina SanzaiI.
(in French)
Current Events
The non-profit foundation Free From Poverty Foundation (FFPF) works in collaboration with the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) in Jamkhed located in Maharashtra, India. Through dental, surgical, educational, community and public health missions, FFPF and CRHP are breaking the cycle of poverty for this community.
PSF Canada’s collaboration is ongoing since the evaluation mission that was completed on-site at Julia Hospital in February 2020. Each year since 2023, PSF Canada’s volunteer pharmacist has the honor to join a surgical team from Canada, Italy and/or Australia and to work closely with the local team of health and social professionals. PSF Canada’s volunteer pharmacist teams up with the local pharmacist to work hand in hand and to complement each other. In addition to the dental and surgery camps, the local team serves a rural, disadvantaged population of half a million people and provides free and low-cost secondary care.
In February 2024, an on-site mission was completed and for the first time, a dental camp was also conducted along with the surgical camp. This is the third on-site mission for PSF Canada in addition to the 4 virtual missions that were completed during the pandemic.
One aspect of our involvement at Julia Hospital is to help out with the acute care and be available to assist wherever needed. Through these activities in close collaboration with the local team, we complete our goals of sustainable development of pharmacy services and care. Furthermore, each on-site mission permits to reinforce the actions that were done the year before and to readjust if required.
Progress & Achievements 2023-2024
Our missions at Julia Hospital focuses on the following aspects of pharmaceutical services and care:
Creation of medication formulary, alternative medication lists and high alert medication list
Medical emergency management
Medication storage / labelling
Inventory management
Implementation of adapted prophylaxis / treatment protocols
Creation of tools on medication dilution / administration
Compounding of topical preparations
This year, we continued our progress on these aspects. PSF Canada provided the funds to purchase the material required to restructure the medication storage in the operating room. The storage and labelling reorganization for the medication of the anesthesia carts was completed. We started the storage and labelling restructuration for the medication in the operating room pharmacy. We also created tables for the administration of medication (ex: rate based on doses and weight). We started to elaborate a protocol on antibiotic surgical prophylaxis and we provided teaching on the compounding of antibiotic ointment.
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