India

"A Light of Hope"

RAD-AID and PGIMER Chandigarh, a Center of Excellence for medicine and research in Asia, have partnered to care for women in underserved communities using a little imaging equipment and a lot of love. The mobile women's health imaging clinic Asha Jyoti (meaning "Light of Hope" in Hindi) provides screening and follow-up care for breast cancer, cervical cancer and osteoporosis to thousands of underserved women in Northern India every year. PGIMER medical and public health staff operate the module and educate patients on a daily basis. Women who require follow-up have seamless access to specialists within PGIMER. RAD-AID provides educational and program planning support to health workers and staff via on-site visits by RAD-AID volunteers and online. The goal is twofold: we aim to detect disease earlier while at the same time using the flagship van to spread awareness about women's health issues.

The equipment and operational assistance was generously donated by Philips Healthcare, and contractual advice was kindly provided by Brendan Wilson, Esq. 

History of the Program

RAD-AID's management team visited India in July 2010 in collaboration with Project HOPE on RAD-AID's Radiology-Readiness Initiative.  Participating institutions in India included PGI Chandigarh (photos upper left and upper right), Singh Radiodiagnostics in Chandigarh (Punjab) (photo lower left), Okay Diagnostic Center in Jaipur (photo lower right), and Artermis Health Center in New Delhi.  

RAD-AID returned to North India in January 2011 to further work on women's health, patient education and mobile service outreach to underserved populations.

Joining the RAD-AID team in January 2011 was Pangea from Columbia University School of Business to work with Project HOPE and PGI Chandigarh on program planning and economic assessment. Results and plans were presented at the 2011 RAD-AID Conference. 

The team returned to India for more than a month in early 2012 to plan and develop a mobile health program with PGIMER. In May 2012, RAD-AID and PGIMER launched Asha Jyoti (meaning "Light of Hope" in Hindi), a mobile screening module that integrates community health education with imaging-based screening and diagnostic programs for women's health and broad public health programs.   The team returned to Chandigarh in August 2012, and also launched a technologist education program with the support of the ASRT. 

  October 2012 marked the successful conclusion of the 6-month pilot, and the program was offically announced at the Champions of Action Session of the Clinton Global Initiative. As of November 2012, Asha Jyoti was launched as a five-year program with the goal of improving the long-term health of women in Punjab. Asha Jyoti also aims to demonstrate the importance and feasibility of preventive screening programs to other interested community and government leaders worldwide. 

 

Our Volunteers 

Dr. Everton and Mrs. Nordvig would like to thank the many members of our management team who have provided the critical and ongoing support that alllowed Asha Jyoti to flourish, including Dr. Mollura for his unwavering support and guidance, and Ms. Medlen, Dr. Azene and Dr. Lungren. Also, we acknowledge our dedicated team of RAD-AID fellows, volunteers, and advisors for their contributions and commitment to Asha Jyoti and women's health:

Dr. Christina Cinelli, RAD-AID India Team Founding Member

Dr. Erica Pollack, RAD-AID Global Health Fellow

Dr. Priyanka Prakash, RAD-AID Global Health Fellow

Bianca Nguyen, M.D. Candidate, RAD-AID India Team Member

Shelly Lille, R.T.(R)(M), ASRT Fellow

Lisa Bowles, R.T.(R)(M)(BD), ASRT Fellow 

Dr. Sonia Kakar, Project Hope

Nicola Kamath, MBA, Business Plan Advisor, Columbia Business School 

Kristin Stepaniak, MBA, Business Plan Advisor, Columbia Business School 

Anjali Vyas, MBA, Business Plan Advisor, Columbia Business School 

Enrichetta Ravina, MBA, Assistant Professor of Finance, Columbia Business School