Taiwan's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are lending a hand to improve public health conditions among the Tibetan diaspora in India, though much remains to be done, according to the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC).
"With assistance from the MTAC, NGOs such as the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) in Taiwan have donated a mobile hospital to the Tibetan Refugee Help Center in Darjeeling (TRSHC). In addition, the International Action and Cooperation Team in Taiwan offered its assessment of possible means of improving public health conditions among Tibetan settlements in southern India," said Ngodup Wangomo (娥舟文茂), the deputy head of the Tibet Department at the MTAC.
The MTAC, along with the Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation, yesterday held a seminar called International Conference on Humanitarian Aid to Tibetan Communities at National Taiwan University to discuss sustainable development of medical aid to Tibetan communities. The seminar drew about 90 participants, many of whom work in public health.
Ngodup Wangomo stated that there are approximately 100,000 Tibetan refugees residing across India, with the majority living in the north, northeast and south. Many other Tibetan refugees have taken up residence Nepal and Bhutan; in total, there are about 120,000 Tibetans in settlements outside Tibet.
According to Khedroob Thondup (凱度頓珠), president of the TRSHC, the donation of the mobile hospital last year was a pioneer project in providing assistance to the Tibetan community in India.
The hospital has been designed to serve both as a mobile diagnostic clinic -- which is equipped with modern medial equipment ranging from an ultrasound scanner to a high-power chest x-ray machine -- and as a research center.
"Since the inauguration of the mobile hospital in June 2003, thousands of people have benefited from the various medical camps that have been organized by TRSHC. Recently, when over 50,000 people attended religious teachings given by the Dalai Lama in Darjeeling, over 2,000 people were screened for various diseases and ailments," Khedroob Thondup said in a public health care progress report on South India.
The TRSHC was founded in 1959, at a time when thousands of Tibetans were flocking into neighboring countries as refugees.
Diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and arthritis are prevalent among Tibetan settlements, and organized medical attention is desperately needed.
"In India, TB is the second-biggest killer after cancer. However, no one in India is in charge of this problem," said Daniel Rikleen, a medical doctor who has been a long-term physician at Sera Mey Social Service in South India.
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