Paramahamsa Prajnanananda visited the cyclone-devastated areas of Odisha in 1999 and saw thousands of people with various diseases and lacking even the most basic medical care. In keeping with Paramahamsa Hariharananda's goal of serving the sick, many health centers were established in India, beginning in 1999, through the charitable arm of Prajnana Mission. They offer free medical services and supplies to people in need in rural areas where there are no convenient medical facilities.
Health Centers were started in Balighai and Cuttack in 1999. A free homeopathy clinic was started in Bhisindipur in 2003, and health clinics were established in 2002 and 2003 in Panarhat and the fishermen's village of Penthakata, Puri. The health centers provide free medical, dental, and lab-pathology care, along with distribution of free medicines.
In addition to the health centers, the mobile medical and dental unit travels to remote rural areas of Odisha every year at regular intervals to provide health checkups, health camps, dental camps, health awareness camps, social awareness camps, and to distribute free medicine.
The health centers are well organized and provide services and medication for more than 60,000 people every year, with the numbers continuing to increase. Hand In Hand USA and Hand In Hand Europe provide funding for health care centers in Balighai, Jagatpur, Yukthashram, Panarhat and remote rural parts of Orissa and West Bengal, and their continued support helps make these centers possible.
Annual Number of Patients Treated at Hariharananda Charitable Health Centers
Year | Balighai | Jagatpur | Panarhat | Bhisindipur | Other Places | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | 7,084 | 2,073 | 9,157 | |||
2000 | 18,160 | 5,800 | 23,960 | |||
2001 | 11,002 | 5,990 | 16,992 | |||
2002 | 12,432 | 6,070 | 18,502 | |||
2003 | 22,749 | 7,542 | 1,770 | 2,028 | 34,089 | |
2004 | 27,102 | 12,312 | 2,364 | 1,429 | 7,398 | 50,605 |
2005 | 29,608 | 14,178 | 3,999 | 4,159 | 12,664 | 64,608 |
2006 | 36,598 | 15,129 | 2,737 | 6,833 | 8,718 | 70,015 |
2007 | 29,949 | 12,949 | 2,909 | 6,000 | 7,357 | 59,164 |
Total | 194,685 | 82,043 | 13,779 | 18,421 | 38,165 | 347,092 |