The Vachana Foundation is the brainchild of Dr. Sharan S Patil, founder of the Sparsh Hospital Group and one of the world’s finest orthopaedic surgeons. From the very start of his entrepreneurial journey, Dr. Patil’s identified that access to the best healthcare in our country was not equitably available. While there are a few national public centers of excellence like AIIMS and NIMHANS, the demand for quality healthcare solutions far outstripped the supply and there continues to be an overwhelming number of poor people who fall further into the poverty trap or suffer unnecessary permanent disability, even death as a result of not having access to available best-in-class solutions. This is primarily because the cutting-edge equipment and finest talents follow investments that are mainly being made in the private sector in India which, despite schemes, are not readily available for the masses. Stated simply, Dr. Patil believed that the best healthcare should be accessible to all our citizens.

FUN FACT: Did you know that at the time of independence, the Indian Healthcare system was 80% public infrastructure and today it is 80% private?

Having identified the gap between what the government hospitals could do and what private players could provide for the citizens of our country, Dr. Patil formulated a comprehensive initiative to tackle this problem. The Sparsh Foundation not only funds complex surgical requirements for the poor but also encourages healthcare practitioners – doctors, nurses, and even pharma companies to provide free or subsidised products and services when they can to give back to our nation. This is an ambitious vision set by Dr. Patil that the SPARSH Foundation took on – it is the promise of a better life for those who need it most in our country.