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Making a difference Having a shared vision to make tangible differences to disadvantaged lives keeps WA Indian Docs inspired. The Director of Medical Services at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals, Dr Sayanta Jana, returned to Perth from a trip to India in early January with renewed purpose for the fundraising work being done here for Children in Need in India – Australia (CINI). Sayanta is the current president of WA Indian Docs, a charitable organisation that was established in 2016 and CINI is one of its major beneficiaries. “We initially started as a group of just 30 doctors and now the membership stands at more than 350. From the very outset, our key strategy was to unite as many doctors as possible with a common vision to make a real difference to society, from our own homes and practices in WA,” he said.
dedication and commitment she has provided to CINI Australia over the years,” Sayanta said. “In fact, when I first started off in my health management career, it was actually somewhat embarrassing to see the amount of work Jennie and the team were doing for CINI, while we were busy with our lives and professions. But we did have the desire to make a difference and several doctors and our friends started to make their nominal donations and contributions.
Like minds
Medical Forum spoke to Dr Jennie Connaughton, the founder of CINI in Australia, in the May edition and reported on the work being done at the local level in India. Sayanta and WA Indian Docs knew of her work long before.
“As the leadership group of a small organisation, one of the first and foremost things we agreed upon was to start working for a smallto-medium sized charity where we could see a difference after every fundraising initiative and higher benefit to donation ratio.
“I had known Jennie for several years and we continue to be astonished by the leadership,
“This is why we unanimously chose CINI Australia as our chosen charity and we are still going strong
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after four years of support and fundraising.” The WA Indian Doctors Foundation’s hard work fundraising was recognised in 2018 by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission (ACNC) and the group was registered as Australian Charity with Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status with the ATO. “The recognition from ACNC has given a real thrust to all our charity initiatives including for CINI Australia. We are now raising funds and investing a lot in several public health initiatives, partnering with BreastScreen WA, Cervical Screening WA, general healthrelated counselling, public health awareness as well as the specific work we undertake to support CINI Australia,” he said. “We have a key focus on maternal and child health in Australia, particularly in communities including the Indian community where breast-screen uptake rates continue to be among the lowest among all migrating and ethnic populations. “Last year, we partnered with the Indian Society of WA as a key
MEDICAL FORUM | MEN 'S HEALTH ISSUE
