“THE SICK SHOULD RECEIVE TREATMENT”
THE BEGINNING OF JIVAKA HOSPITAL
Jivaka Hospital opened at the same time as Sujata Academy. The hospital began as a small medical center that JTS set up to treat the injuries of the workers while the school was being constructed. The center was established on a corner of the construction site and was equipped with medicine and medical equipment.
After the completion of Sujata Academy, the medical center became the school infirmary. Soon, so many residents from nearby villages came to the infirmary for treatment that it was hard for the teachers to conduct classes. Dungeshwari is an area that receives very little educational and medical support from the government. Therefore, the small infirmary at Sujata Academy was the only medical facility available to them for medical emergencies. In 1995, when cholera broke out in Dungeshwari, iInfected residents gathered at the infirmary . Sujata Academy temporarily suspended classes and placed beds in classrooms and corridors to treat the patients. In January 2001, with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency, a two-story medical building was built and was officially named Jivaka Hospital.
TUBERCULOSIS TREATMENT
People still die of tuberculosis. In South Korea, the government pays for the treatment of tuberculosis. However, in most developing countries, many tuberculosis patients lose their lives because they cannot afford treatment. While the cost of treating tuberculosis is about $125 per person, the daily pay of a worker in Dungeshwari is only about $1.
*JTS carried out a project to eliminate tuberculosis In Dungeshwari and was able to provide treatment and cure most of the tuberculosis patients in the area. Thanks to the continuous effort of JTS volunteers, JTS was able to transfer the care of the local tuberculosis patients to the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program, which is run by the Indian government. This enabled the tuberculosis patients to receive tuberculosis medicine directly from the government. The JTS tuberculosis elimination project was able to conclude in October 2012.