Bengaluru, Feb 21 (PTI) Infosys Foundation on Wednesday announced its collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), a Department of Biotechnology, Government of India supported initiative, aimed at bolstering healthcare for expectant mothers and newborns in Karnataka. In a statement, the philanthropic and CSR arm of Infosys said the ‘C-CAMP-Infosys Foundation Project Early Life’ programme marks the start of the collaboration.
It aims to benefit about 50,000 to 1 lakh women and 4,000 newborns across eight districts in the state, over a period four years, using innovative medical technologies, it said.
The C-CAMP-Infosys Foundation Project Early Life was launched at the Government of Karnataka's roundtable on health titled ‘A new paradigm with CSR and Philanthropy’, in association with C-CAMP, which was chaired by Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, according to the Infosys Foundation statement.
The foundation has committed Rs 8.5 crore towards this project, which will address the early adoption of healthcare technology at low-resource health facilities to improve maternal health screening as well as address the rising cases of neonatal mortality.
"As part of this project, cutting-edge foetal monitoring technology will be deployed to enhance health monitoring of expectant mothers across district hospitals and community health centres in Karnataka.
"In addition, a neonatal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device, which provides respiratory support for newborns in respiratory distress, will be made available across critical care newborn units in district and taluk hospitals," the foundation said.
Minister Rao, who was quoted in the statement, said, “Improving maternal and newborn healthcare in the districts is a very important priority for us. We will be starting with Dharwad and Ballari and cover a total of eight districts to strengthen health monitoring for all mothers and (providing high) quality care to newborns requiring critical care support."
Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director, C-CAMP, said, “...This initiative furthers our collective endeavour of leveraging advanced technology built indigenously to provide quality care to mothers and their newborns, and creating avenues for affordable and accessible healthcare in Karnataka.”
Sunil Kumar Dhareshwar, Trustee, Infosys Foundation, said, “Maternity care has been a key area of focus for Infosys Foundation within the healthcare space. The ‘C-CAMP-Infosys Foundation Project Early Life’ will not only give a boost to public healthcare infrastructure in the state, but also give impetus to the adoption of innovative technologies in maternal and childcare.”