Sangath

Sangath is now engaged in a wide range of health related activities across the state of Goa, and its impact is being felt nationally and abroad. We have evolved democratic and responsible systems of management and high standards of financial accountability and transparency. We are today at a crucial juncture of our history, evolving from a small NGO into an institution which can sustain its work through strong partnerships with governments and academic institutions. As we look into the future where do we see ourselves heading?

We will continue to innovate along the lines of our current work, i.e. developing packages of care for child development, adolescent health and mental disorders which can be delivered through existing community resources. Examples of such projects are the Community Care for People with Schizophrenia in India (COPSI) project and our school health promotion and empowerment project (SHAPE). COPSI is the largest systematic study of the benefits of a low-cost community based rehabilitation program for people with schizophrenia in India. The project, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, is being implemented in Goa and Chennai, and involves several collaborators in India (SCARF and NIMHANS) and abroad (Institute of Psychiatry and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK). SHAPE is a major initiative aiming to cover all our school based activities, from training teachers on developing inclusive curriculum to health promotion. SHAPE has developed strategic partnerships with a number of schools in Goa with support from local donors (Dempo Mining Corporation) and international donors (the MacArthur Foundation). SHAPE has also won a grant from UNFPA/Ministry of HRD (Govt of India) to train staff nurses in Navodaya schools around the country in counseling skills.

As we move forward, we dream of our programs becoming a part of national and international policies. At the national level we are part of 2 major programs – we are the state nodal agency under the national trust and mother NGO for the RCH program. Another exciting opportunity which lies immediately ahead in this regard is our partnering with the Government of Goa to run the District Mental Health Program in the north Goa district, as part of the new National Mental Health Program of India. If this plan, which has now been approved by the state government, is approved by the central government, Sangath will implement its various interventions across the district, reaching out to 7.5 lakh people (3/4 million).

We are excited about our association with the Public Health Foundation of India, the biggest initiative to build capacity in public health in India. The PHFI is a private-public partnership which is establishing a series of institutes for public health around India (www.phfi.org). The PHFI and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine launched the South Asian Centre for Chronic Diseases, a major new initiative to carry out policy relevant research on chronic diseases in India. Sangath has become part of a national network of organizations which will work in collaboration with this centre to implement this research. This new initiative will offer the opportunity for us to expand our work on depression and alcohol abuse to cover other chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

2007 was a critical year for global mental health as the Lancet, the world’s leading scientific journal for international health, published a full series of articles on mental disorders in developing countries, and called for action to scale up services for people with mental disorders. Much of Sangath’s future vision fits well with this call for action. Indeed, we are delighted that we are also engaged actively in setting up the new Movement for Global Mental Health, by coordinating the process of designing the Movement’s new website, which was launched globally on World Mental Health Day (October 10, 2008)- www.globalmentalhealth.org. Sangath is the hub through which this website will be managed for the foreseeable future.

There are many other plans too, not least to expand our role as a training agency for a range of stakeholders, from training teachers who wish to become school health counsellors, to training health planners to design mental health care delivery plans for entire populations. We have successfully run our first Leadership in Mental Health course in November’08, in partnership with four other national and international organizations. Our staff and members are being invited to help develop mental health programs in other countries, including Sri Lanka, Palestine, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. In 2009, we have launched a new short course on Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions, which includes the one week Short Course on Clinical Trials run by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

But, we leave the best news to the last. In June 2008, the MacArthur Foundation from the US (which has been a longstanding supporter of our work on youth health) awarded Sangath its 2008 International Prize for Creative & Effective Institutions. This is a great honor for us, not least as we join the company of some outstanding organizations in India and abroad who have won this coveted honor. Apart from the recognition we received, the prize has also infused us with a much needed cash donation. We will use these funds to achieve our dream of building a state-of-the-art centre that would provide clinical services, conduct research activities and be a national training centre. Although the prize was generous, prices of land in Goa have become astronomical and we foresee needing some more help to acquire land in a part of Goa which is accessible to our clients..

We will continue to need your help in any form to achieve this dream and to further our vision. We are always grateful to receive comments to help us strengthen our organization and achieve our goals. We look forwards to hearing from you.