[Assam] Doctor at large

[bg]

  <http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/content_mail.php?option=com_content&name=print&id=10468#>
   <http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/content_mail.php?option=com_content&name=print&id=10468#>
 *Doctor at large*
 June 26, 2008

*SPIRIT OF INDIA — SOCIETY*

[image: Dr Sunil Kaul]He is a product of India who is trying to save Bharat.
That, in a gist, sums up the good doctor who, in the middle of Bodoland in
Assam's Chirang district, is bringing about a silent movement eradicating
the deadly malaria, running a weavers' network and guiding other NGOs in the
region.

An MBBS from Pune and trained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine, Dr Sunil Kaul realised that his true calling lay in the rural
heartland where even basic healthcare was a rarity.

In 2000, he quit the army and, with his wife Jennifer Liang, founded the
Action Northeast Trust (ANT) in Bongaigaon. They have a daughter whom they
have named Aman Gwjwn. The last name means "peace" in Bodo.

The foundation's most powerful impact has been in controlling malaria in
Chirang. Kaul set up laboratories in remote places and trained locals in
conducting blood tests and identifying the malaria parasite.

He taught local chemists the correct dosage of medicines. A local boy,
Carlos, is a much-trusted lab technician.

And though now a government-run clinic has come up close by, old loyalists
still come to Carlos and voice their faith in Kaul when it comes to
treatment.

"I have often been accused of helping quacks. But no MBBS doctor wants to
stay here," he says.

Each ANT centre covers about 80-90 small villages, reaching out to nearly
6,000 people. Ever since he began ANT, Kaul has trained 11 persons, of which
eight are still with the project.

They run the labs independent of ANT, presided over by a local managing
committee.

"I wanted them to be responsible for each unit and they do take an
appropriate fee from the people for the tests. I had hoped this would not
only provide healthcare but also be an economically-viable profession. Some
of them are doing well, but with the National Rural Health Mission now
setting up clinics, these centres may not do too well in the future," he
says, not ready to take credit for almost showing the way to the Government.

—*Elora Sen*

   <http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/content_mail.php?option=com_content&name=print&id=10468#>
 ------------------------------
 *URL for this article :*
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/content_mail.php?option=com_content&name=print&id=10468