Spine remains the backbone of a healthy human body, an indispensable and multi functional pillar of stability. Spinal cord injuries (SCI) and disorders can be a crippling and painful source of disability.

Magnitude of the problem

Those affected are often young breadwinners who get laid off work for days on end, causing distress to the entire family.

Who we are and how it started

Dr. Shekhar Bhojraj is a renowned senior Spine Surgeon in India. Having sensed a lack of a dedicated spine care facility in India, he initiated The Spine Unit at the prestigious KEM Hospital (MCGM) in 1988, first of its kind in the country.

The unit overcame major challenges like setting up an infrastructure, raising awareness, conducting workshops to train the orthopedic surgeons, designing and developing indigenous implants and conducting outreach programs to reach the underserved community.

Philosophy of TSF

In 1998 Dr. Bhojraj started the Spine Foundation (TSF) as a social arm of the spine unit. TSF considers it a social responsibility to make spine care affordable and accessible to the non-affording millions. It aims to provide high quality care to patients with spinal pathologies, but with limited resources. Our goal - ‘to provide a composite spine health service to all

The foundation has a core group of Spine Surgeons who provide their services for these patients for free. TSF provides for their investigations, treatment, admissions, surgery, rehabilitation and their ultimate placement back into the society, so that they can once again be productive members of the society.

Two centers were set up, one at the V.N. Desai Municipal hospital, a peripheral hospital in the suburbs of Mumbai serving the Urban poor and one at SEARCH, a hospital located in the tribal area of Gadchiroli serving the Rural poor.

Over the years the expertise of the spine foundation in delivering economical spine care grew and several referral centers and multiple outreach camps were developed across the country in collaboration with the government and charitable organizations to identify patients with no access to spine care.

The Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI) joined the cause and started a social wing headed by Dr. Shekhar Bhojraj to root in for the cause.

The funding for the for the cause comes from Patrons, NGOs and organisations

Centers

Several centers like V. N. Desai Municipal hospital, Tilak hospital, Wadia Children’s Hospital in Mumbai and SEARCH Gadchiroli, Parmarth ashram Rishikesh, Himalayan institute Dehradun are already functional.

Present work

The Spine Foundation has planned a multicentric comprehensive Spine care program for patients with spine ailments in Rural Maharashtra along with the Govt. of Maharashtra and other Non Government Organizations.

This program includes setting up Rural Spine Care Centers (RSCC), consisting of spine operation theatres, spine clinic and spine wards, in the existing orthopedic departments of the various government medical colleges in rural areas. The doctors are trained and sensitized by a series of lecture courses and workshops.

A pilot project of establishing such Rural Spine Care Centers (RSCC) at 4 institutes is currently underway.

A referral practice chain from interiors to these RSCC via health workers and Primary healthcare doctors is being designed.

Mobile spine units are planned to reach out to patients in inaccessible areas, like the foothills of Himalayas or the tribal villages in Central India, and arrange transportation to the nearest centers after screening them. Once these systems are in place and these RSCC become independent units, The SPINE FOUNDATION can move on to adopt 4 new such centers.

Similar such initiatives are being spearheaded in several states along with the local government and Non government organizations

Our work

Since its inception, the foundation has seen over a 25000 out patients and performed surgeries over 950 patients

At its tertiary referral centers in Mumbai, the spine foundation has treated over 20000 out-patients and performed over 700 surgeries

At its first rural center at SEARCH, Gadchiroli, the spine foundation provides spine care to a population which struggles for even the bare necessities and the closest MRI center is over 100 miles away, the foundation has treated over 2500 out-patients and performed over 150 spine surgeries.

The Rural Spine Care Centers since their inception in 2015 have catered to more than 2600 patients and performed 93 procedures.

The foundation is now looking at setting up systems in place, empowering the local workforce and training the local doctors to make each of these centers self sufficient. It has been a brilliant journey from inception to reality.

Having surmounted this mammoth task in quick time and with support from the spine surgeon community, NGOs and the government alike, the first challenge seems to have been overcome.

However, the bigger battle lies ahead – as we seek to cover the entire geography of our vast and diverse country, to reach out uniformly to the millions of under served and needy population with spinal ailments, and make a healthy spine every individuals privilege. For this we reach out to similar minds with effective ideas and skill sets to help achieve our utopian dream!