22 November 2022 : More than 23,000 children with congenital heart disease have been treated completely free of cost and over 200,000+ consultations have been conducted over the last 10 years, at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Centres for Child Heart Care at Nava Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Palwal (Haryana) and Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra). The fourth paediatric cardiac hospital in India was inaugurated on November 17, 2022, at Siddipet (Telangana).
Sanjeevani celebrated the milestone of completing 10 years of healing little hearts, to reduce the burden of congenital heart defects absolutely free of cost, at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Centre for Child Heart at Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh on 20 November 2022 in the presence of the Founder of the global chain of hospitals – Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, Chairman Dr C Srinivas, High Commissioners of Fiji and Rwanda to India, the Minister from the High Commission of Nigeria, the chief of UNICEF for the State of Chhattisgarh and the celebrated former international Indian Cricketer, Sri Sunil Gavaskar. The hospital in Nava Raipur was the very first hospital that was founded in the year 2012, through the instrumentation of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai, a disciple of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He walked the footsteps of Baba to continue the legacy of providing free health services to all, especially the rural and the underprivileged.
Since 2012, paediatric cardiac services of the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals have expanded to cover many more places and people, in India and across the seas to other countries also, including Fiji and Sri Lanka to provide tertiary medical care to children suffering with congenital heart diseases. Two primary and secondary care medical centres are also functional at Clarksdale (Mississippi, USA) and Batticaloa (Sri Lanka).
At the event which saw a convergence of close to 8,000 people, Sri Sunil Gavaskar said, “No words can describe the phenomenal efforts the hospitals showcased in this decade and my visits to the hospitals have made me witness the change it has created. When we save a child, we are saving the future.”
Mr Job Zachariah, Chief of UNICEF Chhattisgarh addressed the gathering and expressed that “UNICEF has entered into an MoU with the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals and wants to develop this as a national institute of excellence in paediatric heart care and treatment, so that more capacities can be built in research, training etc. UNICEF always believes that the biggest tragedy in life is not unemployment or poverty, but the death of a mother and child.”
About 1,800 children who had undergone surgeries in the past had arrived with their parents and family members to express their love for the institution which has given them a new lease of life. While a couple of parents expressed their heartfelt love and overwhelming gratitude, Brigadier Vignesh Mahanti, Sena Medal, in charge of Chhattisgarh and Odisha Sub Area (COSA), pledged the complete support of the Indian army to the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals.
To celebrate and commemorate the decade of serving society through compassionate healthcare, Sri Madhusudan Sai is determined to do more good, especially for the mothers and children of India. Recently while talking about his vision, he said, “A string of mother and child hospitals, cross the length and breadth of the country is going to be the game changer in rural healthcare for high quality point of care, at rural doorsteps and at zero cost! In the last ten days, the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Mother and Child Hospitals were inaugurated at Raiwala (Uttarakhand), Palwal (Haryana), and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand). Hospitals in Nava Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Yavatmal (Maharashtra) were inaugurated few months ago. The vision is to eventually establish one such centre in every district of the country through a partnership model with the governments and corporations so that no woman or child needs to travel more than a day’s journey to reach the centre and get treated for free.”
Another Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Child Heart Care Centre will be inaugurated on Baba’s 97th birth anniversary on 23 November 2022 at Muddenahalli, Karnataka. Every single day, Sri Madhusudan Sai spearheads the efforts to make healthcare accessible to every mother and child, especially in the rural sectors of the country, by unburdening off their shoulders the financial aspect that binds one’s right to good healthcare.
