Adopt A Primary Health Centre (PHC) In Rural India

Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) – To aid rural communities in the Western Ghats to fight against COVID-19 by bolstering support to local primary health centres (PHCs)

by Centre for Wildlife Studies

About the fundraiser:

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating impacts in India. By April 2021, there were 4,00,000 daily recorded cases. Although the numbers continue to fluctuate, it is very apparent that the urban and rural medical centres are overwhelmed, understaffed and lack basic resources to treat large numbers of people. With variable testing rates compounded by inadequate vaccines, we have to act now to support these rural villages. Rural India is now the epicentre.


For 37 years, the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) has focused on empowering local communities coping with loss from wildlife and having a strong presence in remote and hard to reach villages across the Western Ghats. Our field staff are witnessing first-hand the status of these medical centres where vaccines, although available, aren’t even being availed by the local community. We have decided to act now by focusing on bolstering support to primary health centres (PHCs) in rural India focusing on the Western Ghats.


PHCs established by the government are the focal medical centres in a rural setting. Established under the National Health Mission, with an average cover of 27 villages per PHC. They are the first contact point between rural people and the medical staff. PHCs in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are facing a shortage of medical supplies and doctors. These PHCs found in and around remote wildlife reserves require last-mile delivery assistance. CWS is committing our trained and dedicated field staff to identify and assist these PHCs directly in rural India. We are equipped to provide support to enable the overworked primary health workers to curtail the rapid spread of Covid-19 and similar zoonotic diseases in these areas. We will help replenish the huge shortage of essential supplies such as face shields, PPE kits, oximeters, thermal scanners, gloves, masks, and medicines to support primary health care centres.


Our three flagship award-winning community-focused conservation programs of CWS are Wild Surakshe, Wild Shaale and Wild Seve. These programs are operational around villages surrounding wildlife reserves of Western Ghats. In September 2020, we launched the Wild Surakshe, a public health and safety program. The program provides knowledge and connections to empower the communities living close to wildlife reserves to cope with zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19 and human-wildlife conflict. Our team has conducted 150 workshops and trained more than 4,000 people, who now understand how to deal with outbreaks of zoonotic diseases in their villages. Wild Surakshe has built strong connections to hundreds of frontline government health workers, forest department staff, grassroots community organisations and leaders to aid communities that are at risk for zoonotic diseases. Unlike their urban counterparts, resilience to zoonotic diseases, access to medical care and awareness about medical protocols are severely limited in rural communities. We need your support to rapidly scale and to support more PHCs in these villages.

How funds will be utilised:

Our strong ground presence in rural Karnataka and Goa has allowed us to connect to 172 PHCs and the list is growing daily. Our dedicated program teams Wild Surakshe, Wild Seve and Wild Shaale are going to bolster 222 primary health care centres for 13 Districts in Karnataka and Goa. We need your support to rapidly scale and to support more PHCs in these villages. Your contribution will support the following essentials.

  • Medical Equipment – Oxygen Concentrators, Oxymeters, Sanitizer dispenser, Syringes, Thermometers, Non-rebreathable masks, Tubing with mask for nebulizers.
  • Medicines – Ab Philline (Bronchodilators), Acebrophylline (Mucolytic), Ceftriaxone injection, Enoxaparin (anti-coagulant), Favipiravir (Anti-viral), Dolo 650 (paracetamol), Pan 40 (Acidity regulators), Montral (Anti-allergen), Zinc tablet, Vitamin B, Vitamin C.
  • Personal Protective Equipment – Collapsible stretchers, Gloves, Face shields, Surgical masks, PPE kits, Aprons.

Impact on the ground:

We started this campaign not more than two weeks ago and we have already procured and delivered supplies to the first set of 11 PHCs in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district. In the coming week, we plan to reach 18 PHCs in Udupi District and 11 PHCs in Uttara Kannada district and we would have covered 39 per cent of our target within three weeks of the start of this campaign. With your support, we will be able to reach all 100 PHcs within 4-6 weeks.

Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS)

The Centre for Wildlife Studies is an internationally recognised centre-of-excellence in the arenas of wildlife research, conservation, policy, and education and established in 1984 by Padmashri Dr Ullas Karanth and is now being run by Dr Krithi Karanth. We believe that scientific knowledge is the foundation of effective conservation interventions and robust policies. CWS began by practicing science-based conservation with special emphasis on the ecology and conservation of the tiger, and other large mammals. This includes understanding conflict, zoonotics, resource extraction, tourism, alternative livelihoods, voluntary resettlement, connectivity and land-use change. This includes understanding conflict, resource extraction, hunting, voluntary resettlement, tourism, connectivity, land-use change and wildlife diseases. We have published 12 books, >300 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 1000's of popular articles focused on wildlife research and conservation. Our research efforts have aided the development of state and national policies on multiple conservation issues in India. We partner with several local, national and international institutions and governments. CWS is recognised as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and Centre for Excellence by the Government of India.

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