The Narasingh Swain Memorial Trust was established in September 2001, in an effort to enable the physically disabled in India through reconstructive surgery. The Trust was set up in the memory of Late Narasingh Swain. The Trust started work in a modest way from the year 2001, treating physically disabled persons with grotesque burns, birth deformities that were sent to us by fellow doctors. NGOs picked up the thread and started sending more such unfortunate patients who are treated free of cost. The trust then got in touch with the self help groups of disabled persons who had just been formed at the district level in Andhra Pradesh. Thus was established a pathway for identification of physically disabled persons leading to screening, reconstructive surgery and follow up camps on an annual basis and surgery on weekends, till 2012. We had done more than 600 reconstructive surgeries by the time we built our own hospital in 2013. About 587 doctors had been trained in surgical skills in the creatively designed, highly interactive Basic Surgical Skills courses, using locally available materials as teaching aids (chicken skin, goat hooves and bovine intestine to simulate tissue for suturing and surgical manipulation). Location specific screening, identification and reconstructive surgery for physically disabled persons in the BOP segment had been done so far with short term follow-up, in a resource constrained environment.
Dr. Bharatendu Swain, a leading plastic surgeon in the twin cities, has trained, taught and worked in Malaysia, UK, Australia and India. As a surgeon for two decades at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, deep down he wanted to do more for society, especially for the downtrodden who had no access to specialized medical care and has left a lucrative career in the corporate setup and immersed himself in the ethos of the Narasingh Swain Memorial Trust. His selfless, sacrificing attitude in the service of patients has gone a long way in the inception and maintenance of this institute. In the face of many obstacles, he has doggedly pursued to make this a state of art and referral hospital for complicated cases in the field of reconstructive surgery. In its pursuit of excellence and service to mankind, Aakar Asha has received several accolades and recognition in the field of social service. Physical disability comprises 49% of all forms of disability (National Sample Survey Organization) and affects nearly 30 million Indians. Currently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment supports the physically disabled by economic empowerment, rights protection, improving access, etc. We consider physical disability as a primary health care problem and direct enablement through reconstructive surgery or physical rehabilitation as a solution.
We do reconstructive surgery across a range of disciplines- Orthopedic, Plastic and Reconstructive, Cancer surgery, Pediatric Surgery and other disciplines where reconstructive surgery is required.
The organization works closely with government organizations (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty – Disability component – for screening and identification of physically disabled persons), self-help groups, and many other stakeholders and partners with philanthropic institutions for subsidizing the cost of health care. Established as a one-of-its-kind organization, Aakar Asha hospital provides free reconstructive surgery for the poor. One of our success stories define the change in our quality of treatment after moving from the ‘remote location’ model to the institutional model.
Ms S has suffered with deformity of left foot/ankle since infancy. She allegedly sustained burns in infancy when she rolled in open fire and the left foot/leg got burnt and merged in to a stump. Since then she has not been able to walk normally and was hopping on the leg for navigation. After Aakar Asha Hospital conducted reconstructive surgery camp in Chhattisgarh she was identified for surgery and she was brought here to our hospital here in Hyderabad. She underwent 4 stage surgery and rehabilitation. During discharge she was ambulatory and walking on both feet.
