15 December 2007

Health Clinic opened at Kavalbyrasandra Branch

On December 15, 2007, Biocon Foundation opened a health clinic to provide primary healthcare services to the customers of Ujjivan’s Kavalbysandra & Lingarajpuram branches. This clinic will provide access to affordable healthcare services for customers and their families through the Arogya Raksha Yojana (ARY) Health Micro Insurance Scheme. Biocon Foundation will work in collaboration with Parinaam Foundation to raise awareness about the ARY insurance and the services offered at the clinic.

ARY’s insurance is offered through ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and provides free access to the health clinic, discounted medication, and a network of hospitals for secondary and tertiary care, including 1,600 free surgeries.

Present at the clinic’s opening were Elaine Ghosh, Executive Director of Parinaam Foundation, and Rani Desai, Head of Biocon Foundation. They talked to us about the healthcare programs.

Q: What is Parinaam’s objective behind providing healthcare and Health Insurance to Ujjivan’s customers?

Mrs. Ghosh: The biggest problem faced by our customers is limited access to quality food and clean water, as a result of which, children miss several days of school due to illness (up to one week per month in many cases). Their mothers lose work staying at home either to take care of the children, or because their own health is bad. Our goal is to help prevent these illnesses to ensure healthier, happier and more productive lives for them.

Q: What impact do you expect the clinic to have on the branch and its customers?

Mrs. Ghosh: The clinic was opened primarily for Ujjivan’s customers who have the health insurance, but anyone can use the clinic for a small fee. It gives customers the satisfaction of knowing this is their clinic.

Q: How will your partnership with Biocon and ICICI Lombard expand in the future to help additional customers?

Mrs. Ghosh: This clinic is our second one and we are planning to open two more, in Kolkata and Bangalore. As long as Ujjivan expands and opens new branches, Parinaam’s partnerships with Biocon and ICICI will also expand to bring healthcare to the Ujjivan customers.

Q: What has the response been from customers about the health clinic?

Mrs. Ghosh: The customers are very glad to have a clinic which is affordable by them and which is staffed by excellent doctors who understand their needs.

Q: What is the Arogya Raksha Yojana (ARY) Trust and what is its impact throughout India?

Mrs. Desai: The ARY Trust is a collaboration between Biocon Foundation and Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital. The mission of ARY is to improve the delivery of health care to underserved communities. The micro-insurance program was the first program launched by the ARY Trust. It is operational in Karnataka, and will expand to Delhi and Kolkata next year.

Q: How does the network of clinics and hospitals in this Trust work?

Mrs. Desai: We first identify the hospitals in the locality that are interested in partnering with us and will accept the tariffs that we offer. That done, we set up a physical structure for the ARY clinic, which will provide primary healthcare, and a pharmacy in one location to make it as accessible and affordable for the patient as possible. Each clinic hopes to serve about 8000 patients a month.

Q: How will your partnership with Parinaam expand in the future to help additional customers?

Mrs. Desai: An essential component of any micro-insurance scheme is to get many customers for it to be commercially viable. To do this we partner with NGOs like Parinaam that have an existing relationship with customers and have gained their trust. While setting up new clinics we typically look at where Ujjivan has a presence and we do not. Sometimes the NGO also sets up branches in areas where we have existing clinics.

Q: How do you expect your partnership with Parinaam to help achieve your goals of bringing healthcare to India’s poor?

Mrs. Desai: We need Parinaam’s help to monitor the way ARY is working, bring in customers and spread the word about the services we are offering.

The clinic opening marked the latest milestone for Parinaam’s ‘microfinance plus’ services for the Ujjivan customers and their families. The two organizations are strategic partners working together to holistically address poverty. In addition to health care, Parinaam focuses on education, practical vocational training and job enhancement, basic community services, and capacity building initiatives.

Elaine Ghosh of Parinaam and Rani Desai of Biocon Foundation cutting the ribbon.

Elaine Ghosh and Rani Desai with Ujjivan customers.

Back to Newsroom