The Antara Foundation
| Formation | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ashok Alexander |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Purpose | Maternal and Child Health |
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Website | antarafoundation.org |
The Antara Foundation is an Indian non-governmental organisation, operating in the public health space. It was founded by Ashok Alexander in 2013 drawing on his experience of running Avahan, one of the world’s largest HIV prevention programs and several years of top-tier consulting experience at McKinsey & Co. [1] The foundation focuses on Maternal and Child Health, and aims to deliver preventive public health solutions at scale, adequate for state and national impact. Antara’s larger mission is to help create a public health system that consistently delivers products and solutions with scale, appropriate speed, and quality, backed by supportive policy and funding.[2]
The foundation is guided by three mentors: Bill Gates, Arjun Malhotra and Shiv Nadar. The foundation's programs are backed by well-regarded donors such as Tata Trusts, Bajaj Auto and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
Programs
Akshada
The foundation's flagship program, Akshada, is operated in partnership with the Government of Rajasthan and Tata Trusts. Through the program, several innovative interventions aimed at achieving better maternal and child health outcomes have been introduced in Rajasthan's Jhalawar and Baran districts, since 2015. An illustrative list of interventions would include:
- Mapping of villages to dynamically track status of maternal health (using bindis) and inform better, focussed planning of tasks
- Convening of Frontline health workers (ASHAs, AWWs, ANMs) on a single platform (AAA) to review, plan and learn together
- Equipment of Frontline workers with an integrated smart-app solution facilitating health worker effectiveness while producing consistent, relevant data
- Mentoring adolescent girls to emerge as advocates for maternal and child health in the community
- Rationalisation of voluminous Service Delivery Register (SDR) used by ANMs to enable ease of use while capturing important information
- Enhancement of labour room facilities at Community Health Centres and training of nurses at these facilities to ensure better institutional care
- Enabling students, faculty and ANMs in Jhalawar to access top-quality medical courses from Stanford School of Medicine through an online platform
Ayana
Through the Ayana program, the Foundation works with CIFF to build saliency for nutrition in India. Under its umbrella, events like the Nutrition Symposium and the Rajasthan CSR summit have been organised. Periodic briefing packs on nutrition are also issued under this program.
Aayushi
The Aayushi program is operated in the Dhod block of Sikar district, Rajasthan and has been envisioned to significantly reduce under-5 child mortality rate. The program is run with the generous support of Bajaj Auto Limited through its CSR initiatives.
References
- ↑ "Founder's Note". The Antara Foundation.
- ↑ "The Antara Model". The Antara Foundation.
- ↑ Dhar, Aarti. "Rajasthan govt. signs MoU with Tata trust on child healthcare". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- ↑ "Akshada: Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rajasthan - Antara". Antara. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- ↑ "Ayana: Building Saliency for Nutrition in Rajasthan - Antara". Antara. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
- ↑ "Aayushi: Reducing Under-Five Mortality in Dhod, Sikar District of Rajasthan". Antara. Retrieved 2017-02-07.