Tribhuvandas Foundation is an “Integrated Rural Health & Development Programme” of Amul. Inspired by the great success of round the clock health care services to the livestock of dairy farmers of Kaira, Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, the Founder Chairman of Amul felt the need of such services for the rural population too when he learnt about the experiences of the afflictions brought to them due to the absence of medical services in the villages of erstwhile Kaira district. On his retirement, he donated the prize money of his “Ramon Magsaysay Award” and the fund he received from Kaira farmers for his life-time services to them and set up this Foundation. Dr Verghese Kurien also played an active role in the initiation of this programme.

Tribhuvandas Foundation was registered as a Charitable Trust under the Public Trust Act 1950, on July 1975. It derives its uniqueness from the fact that it is a need-based programme for villagers and is run by the villagers themselves. It fulfills the basic health care needs of the villages. Apart from providing primary treatment for various common ailments, it is also actively involved in promoting preventive health practices. It is headquartered at Anand with sub-centers spread over the districts Anand and Kheda. It has a dedicated team of Medical Officers, Nurses, Administrative Staff and Village Health Workers to provide the following services:

  • Treatment of common ailments such as Immunization – BCG, Pentavalent Vaccine, Polio, Measles, Tetanus (under UIP programme of the Government) and Anti-rabies Vaccine (at subsidized rate)
  • Treatment of Tuberculosis and Anemia
  • Antenatal, Postnatal Care, Neonatal and Infant Care
  • Identification of suspected cases of Cancer and referrals
  • Education and counseling on reversible and permanent methods of Family Planning, Health Education Sessions and referral of critical cases to Secondary and Tertiary Care Centers
  • Building partnership with government for Family Planning Programmes in rural areas
  • Distribution of Contraceptive Tablets and Condoms through regular camps
  • Laparoscopic TL and Minilap Operations, Insertion of Copper-T (IUD), and Tubectomy
  • Cancer Awareness Programme, Detection Camp and Treatment at Shri Krishna Hospital, Karamsad
  • Balwadis (Day Care Centers) for pre-school play and learning activities for children of three to five years

It also provides continuous training to Village Health Workers who are chosen from villages with the help of the Dairy Co-operative Societies. The Village Health Workers carry out health education and primary health care activities door-to-door, in groups and at the Dairy Co-operative Societies centers with confidence due to such training. The training focuses on primary health care, common diseases, pregnancy and the postnatal period, new born care, care and feeding of the young child, growth monitoring, breast feeding, common diseases of childhood, malaria, tuberculosis.

The Foundation has played a pioneering role in large scale implementation of the concept of ‘Safe Delivery Kit’ ensuring a hygienic and safe delivery of pregnant mother at home. With the support of Govt. of Gujarat, the Safe Delivery Kits were made accessible to inhabitants of remote rural interiors who were unable to access such services from state or private agencies. Also, these kits were supplied to various health centers of the Govt. of Gujarat. But with the increase in proportion of institutional deliveries, use of such a kit has declined recently. The success of the programme is indicated by significant fall in the neonatal infection as well as in the maternal, neonatal, and infant mortality rates.