Dear,

The Foundation for Research in Community Health (FRCH) was established by Dr. N. H. Antia, the pioneering plastic surgeon in India, as a nonprofit voluntary organization in 1975. Its aim has been to explore and research into the problems of health and medical care of our country, especially of the rural under-privileged with special attention to women and children and devise alternative approaches/models that are accessible, humane and cost-effective.

The FRCH is recognized as a National Scientific Research Institute by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India and enjoys permanent exemption for donations u//s 35(i) (ii).

The first 10 years’ experience with 30 semi-literate women trained as health workers, covering a population of 30,000 in Mandwa,(north Alibag taluka) revealed the possibility of a new approach for community-based medical care by providing relevant information and training to local women. They were able to achieve in the mid 70’s many of the targets which the Government hoped to achieve by 2000 AD, in major health problems. It was then realized that the role of the people, the paramedics, professionals and that of the hospital needed to be redefined to achieve an effective continuum of care.

In the span of years 1985 - 1995, FRCH carried out a number of seminal field-based research studies on various aspects of health and medical care. Its studies on health costing and health economics, operations research in tuberculosis and on human health resource at the grassroots are considered pioneers in the field. Thus academic activity and field work complemented and strengthened each other. FRCH also conducted field-based research with its sister organization, the Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai, to find viable solutions for rural health problems. In the process, the merging of disciplines evolved a unique approach of combining scientific methods with social insights, an approach rarely found in the current health and development scenario.

The next decade's work in the Parinche valley, south of Pune, consolidated the Mandwa experience and formalized the training of community health workers for a people-based model. It focused on various aspects of rural development like veterinary medicine, non formal education, public information for Panchayati Raj and Government programmes and funds meant for rural development. Career paths for community health workers were devised and a continuing education system was instituted.

In April 2002, the Ministry of Family Welfare, Government of India sanctioned a grant towards the establishment of a Resource and Training Centre at Parinche. This is been valuable in orientation and training of community health workers from several private and government agencies across the country.

FRCH also conducts two courses for village-based health workers that have accreditation from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). These one-year training courses in the distance education mode include the use of written material, audio-visual inputs and hands-on training. So far over 500 health workers have been trained at the Centre; 217 have appeared for the examination and 196 have received accreditation from NIOS.

The FRCH is an active participant in the National Rural Health Mission. Dr. Nerges Mistry, Director, FRCH is a member of the ASHA Mentoring Group of the National Rural Health Mission, New Delhi and of the ASHA Mentoring Group of the State of Uttarakhand. Two trainers from Parinche are designated as National Trainers for the NRHM training programmes throughout the country. FRCH has also helped to pilot the unique concept of Community Based Monitoring in the National Rural Health Mission in Maharashtra and wishes to attempt additional innovative approaches. The Report of the NRHM Working Group of the 12th Five Year Plan mentions FRCH as one of the seminal sites for research and experiments in rural community health initiatives.

A 45 strong team from backgrounds ranging from medicine, natural as well as social sciences, economics, management, documentation and administration also includes a force of primary-educated health trainers and health workers. The Foundation is not a mere service organization; its mandate is to probe, analyze, document and disseminate information. Thus all research projects of the Foundation aim at developing analytical framework for the issues involved and create alternative models of health care. Issues of health and equity have been raised at several fora and our list of publications speaks adequately of our efforts at dissemination. The FRCH has provided inputs for the draft National Health Policy and participated with the global People’s Health Assembly.

The FRCH has been strongly supported for the last three decades by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust through project grants and a corpus fund of Rs. 3 crore. Whilst support has been forthcoming from several national and international funding agencies, there are some specific areas for which your support would be currently valuable - a) the Parinche Training Centre b) comprehensive diabetes control programme in rural areas c) expansion of Community Based Monitoring activities d) researcher for analytical documentation of training approaches and e) upgradation of the library.

Your donation could be specific to any of our undertakings or be a general donation in cash or kind to the Foundation or its corpus funds. Your support in what is a national effort is essential and will be greatly appreciated. We will be pleased to provide you any additional details if you so desire.

Thanking you, Yours sincerely,

Dr. N. F. Mistry Director and Trustee