HIMACHAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Scientific Innovation Of The Year: Dr. Omesh Bharti

Citation: Dr. Omesh Bharti’s relentless effort to save lives of rabid dog bite patients has turned out to be a big leap in rabies research globally. He has made Post Exposure Rabies Prophylaxis for dog bite affordable, bringing down the treatment cost from Rs 35,000 to Rs 350 per patient. He was earlier part of team that conceptualized and implemented 108 Emergency Ambulance Service in Himachal. For his remarkable scientific innovation in making post exposure Rabies prophylaxis for dog bite patients affordable, Himachal This Week confers on him Himachal Excellence Award 2017.

Born on May 10, 1967 in Jawalamukhi, Dr Omesh Kumar Bharti, a noted researcher in Rabies field with 30 scientific publications in reputed national and international journals is a field epidemiologist. Dr. Bharti’s relentless research over last 17 years to save lives of rabid dog bite patients has turned out to be a big leap in rabies research globally. Dr. Bharti has made post exposure Rabies prophylaxis for dog bite affordable, bringing down the cost from Rs 35,000 to less than Rs 350 per patient. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has endorsed his low cost protocol in its recent update on Rabies Vaccines and Immunoglobulins 2017. He has natural understanding of health problems in rural areas as he studied in government schools in villages.

His connect with ground got deeper while heading Kala Jatha under literacy mission in early 90s. As a doctor, he sensed that people in villages were largely affected by animal bites, including dogbite and snakebites, an area which was neglected by all. This made him start working on Rabies. Dr Bharti was always restive to work out low cost solutions for dog bite patients, who were not able to afford costly medicine. A post graduate in field epidemiology from an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) institute, National Institute of Applied Epidemiology, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, he pushed the state shift from Intramuscular to intradermal administration of antirabies vaccination in 2008, which reduced the cost and dose of vaccine, saving in crores. He established the state intradermal antirabies clinic and research centre in DDU Hospital in Shimla, a first in North India.

He observed that despite vaccination some of the patients were still dying of rabies, may be because those patients could not buy rabies immunioglobulin (RIG) for its high cost and scant availability. After reviewing the scientific literature, which indicated low dose RIG possibilities, he got a go ahead from seniors in DDU hospital in 2014 and got technical support from WHO Collaborative Centre on Rabies Research in National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore for saving people in crisis of non-availability of RIG. He shifted to the new protocol of vaccine administration as earlier, intradermal, while injecting RIG in and around wound/s only and not in the muscle. Top Rabies experts, Late Dr SN Madhusudana from NIMHANS and Dr Henry Wilde from Thailand, supported him technically in this endeavour alongwith doctors at DDU hospital.

The low cost protocol, now approved by WHO, will help prevent Rabies not only in India but worldwide by making life saving RIG available and affordable to all. Dr. Bharti was member of the team that received Himachal government’s Civil Services Award in 2012 for conceptualizing and implementing 108 emergency ambulance service in state. His idea to keep anti-snake venom inside ambulance was appreciated by WHO and is now a part of WHO guidelines for snakebite management released in 2016.

NGO Of The Year: Yuva Sewa Club

Mohan Lal Moni (President)

Citation: Yuva Sewa Club of Una is doing a Yeoman’s service as it has emerged as a pillar of strength for girls hailing from poor and needy families. Ever since its inception in 1996, the Yuva Sewa Club has solemnized marriages of 1,393 poor girls. It has also extended help to hundreds of other needy families as its members apart from donors pour in resources for the noble cause.

For its remarkable contribution in the field of social service, Himachal This Week confers on it Himachal Excellence Award 2017.

Yuva Sewa Club of Una has emerged as a pillar of strength for poor families in the district. The club members are at the fore front while extending help in solemnizing marriage of girls of poor families and providing financial assistance and other such matters. The club was established in 1996 with Mohan Lal Moni as its president and run under the patronage of Gurudwara Shaheedan convener Baba Harpal Singh. It has thirty members but hundreds of donors are associated with it as they voluntarily extend monetary help for the noble cause from time to time. Since its inception, the club has solemnized marriage of 1,393 girls hailing from poor families until now. In addition, it has also provided food stuff, sewing machines, clothes, blankets and other items to needy families during marriage of their daughters. The club members hold monthly meeting to extend help to needy families by scrutinizing request letters received from them. The poor families are identified and club members bear all  expenses of marriage in extremely poor families. On the other hand, help is also extended to other deserving families. It provides food stuff, sewing machines and other articles on the marriage of girls hailing from such families. The club members willingly pour in their contributions to meet out expenses of the marriage ceremony.

Keep watching our YouTube Channel ‘Divya Himachal TV’. Also,  Download our Android App