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AAPI to raise funds for trauma centers in India

R S Shankar

The Asha Bhosle concert being held on March 25 is one of the many steps taken by Indian physicians in America to establish trauma centers in India.

Several other similar concerts are planned for other cities. The event is being organised by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin's Charitable Foundation and the Indian Medical Association of Southern California.

AAPI is one of the major contributors to Indian philanthropy. It raised over $ 50,000 to help the victims of Kargil war and over $ 55,000 for the Orissa cyclone relief fund.

AAPI has over a dozen free clinics in India. In America, it has free clinics in Detroit and Chicago. It plans to expand the clinics and add new ones in other inner city locations.

AAPI's charitable work also includes sending medical equipment and literature to India and help update libraries and other facilities at medical schools and hospitals. AAPI clinics each cost about $ 20,000 to operate. The organisation plans to have a clinic in each of Indian states.

The trauma centers are a priority to AAPI because of the huge number of people who die or are seriously injured in auto accidents, says Dr Navin Shah, past AAPI president and one of its trustees.

Dr Shah also wants AAPI help Indian patients get better treatment from hospitals and nursing homes. For instance, he has been advocating the maintenance of records of patient care that would be easily available to patients and doctors. Fatalities should also be recorded and hospitals should find out if any medical lapses led to the deaths, he says.

AAPI has a lot to do for India, Dr Shah and other senior AAPI leaders feel.

"We cannot forget where we come from and what we owe to India," Dr Shah says.

According to researchers at World Bank and automobile associations, India has the world's largest auto-related fatalities. Each year 56,000 people are killed in vehicle accidents and thousands are disabled following accidents across India. In America, which has far more vehicles than India, about 35,000 die in auto accidents in a year. Dr Shah says a substantial number of lives could be saved if the trauma centers in major cities have well-trained physicians and equipment to handle vehicle accident patients.

AAPI has plans to offer advanced life support training for surgeons in at least five Indian cities; it would also train paramedics to deal with automobile victims in an efficient and speedy way. Annual trauma conferences are also being planned.

Founded in 1984, AAPI represents the interests of 32,000 physicians of Indian origin in the United States and serves as an umbrella organisation for 10 professional associations. It is the largest ethnic medical organisation in the country. AAPI members have been making a name for themselves in urban areas, inner cities, rural areas, and peripheral communities around America for the past 25 years.

AAPI, which has about 9,000 members including a new generation of medical graduates, has been holding for many years concerts for its charitable programs.

The Asha Bhosle event, with Sudesh Bhosle's participation, will be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 East Green Street. Tickets are $25, $35, $45, $55, $75, VIP and VVIP. Contact, (626) 793-2122.

For more information about the event and the trauma centers, contact Dr S Balasubramaniam, chairman of the Trauma Committee, (714) 357-3608.

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