Projects: Healthcare

With AHF's support, over 250,000 patient visits are recorded in more than 30 hospitals and clinics throughout the Himalaya, bringing everyday miracles to so many.  Here are just a few examples.

Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children (HRDC)

In developing countries like Nepal, physical disability is more common than in the West, and much more debilitating. Poor nutrition, disease and inadequate care of injuries all lead to crippling disabilities. In a country where livelihoods are usually earned through physical labor, and schools can be a long, arduous walk away, a physical disability can lead to a life of poverty and ignorance. This is why Dr. Ashok Banskota, a world renowned orthopedic surgeon, founded HRDC more than 20 years ago with AHF's help, and we've been partners ever since.

What started in little more than a one-room garage in a suburb of Kathmandu is now a world class hospital that performs well over a thousand surgeries per year, with tens of thousands more benefiting from their physical therapy programs, prosthetic services, nonsurgical clubfoot management, two satellite surgical centers, and extensive community-based follow-up care.

For the children who receive surgery and spend months in rehabilitation, HRDC also helps with their schooling and teaches them things they may not learn in their village environments, like good hygiene and nutrition. Since disabled children are often teased and abused, HRDC helps mend their bodies and heal their psychological scars, too.

In addition to changing the lives of thousands of children (over 40,000 since 1997), HRDC is also a center for training excellence. In the past decade, AHF has helped more than 20 medical residents graduate with a Masters in Orthopedic Surgery from the Kathmandu University Medical School. The talented doctors train at HRDC and form the backbone of the surgical team.

Friends of Shanta Bhawan Clinic, Kathmandu

Nestled deep within the bustling Kathmandu neighborhood near Boudhanath temple, you’ll find the always-busy Friends of Shanta Bhawan Clinic, AHF partner since 1986.

Thanks to the leadership of the indomitable Director Luke Sunde and the hard work of its dedicated local staff, FSB sees an average of 8,000 patients a month (more than 260 a day!) for general medicine, pediatrics, pre- and post-natal care, immunizations, and family planning, and operates one of the best tuberculosis clinics in Kathmandu. Its sliding scale means low-cost, high-quality medical care is available without discrimination to the poorest in Kathmandu, including many Tibetan refugees – it’s a crucial safety net for those who have no where else to turn for health care.

Lingshed, Ladakh

Lingshed is a high and remote valley in Ladakh.  The eight villages in Lingshed Valley have no roads, hospitals or post offices and during the winter months, the passes are closed with snow, keeping the villagers in isolation.  Six years ago AHF met Geshe Ngawang Jangchup, who was looking for a way to train local amchiis (traditional Tibetan medical doctors) so health care would be available to villagers year round.  AHF said yes, and offered salaries for Tibetan doctors and scholarships for students.

In these six years, the health of the villagers has improved dramatically.  We continue to help - with salaries for doctors who run a local clinic and funds to train more students.  We helped to build a kitchen for the clinic so the newly trained amchiis can hold health workshops and seminars.  We also purchased textbooks and a machine to grind traditional medicine.  Mothers have the help they need when it's time to give birth and the very young and old can get medical attention when they most need it.  A little help goes a long way here.