Project ECHO 2024 Annual Report

India
Bridging Sectors and States

Building on 15 years of successful partnerships to improve health outcomes, ECHO India focused on growing mentorship and training for frontline health workers to identify, diagnose and treat noncommunicable diseases with the potential early interventions, including: cardiac health, cervical cancer, diabetes and respiratory health.

ECHO India leveraged their existing ECHO network to further support nurses (a largely female workforce) with training and specialization in the fields of: administration, infectious diseases and mental health. This country-wide network also catalyzed the launch of an ECHO program for women in agriculture, with a specific focus on workforce development and sustainable farming practices.

For Indian educators, a new program focused on social emotional learning integrates the ECHO network’s knowledge about how to best support children’s mental health and social learning.

With more than 400 ECHO Hubs and partnerships in every state, including the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, ECHO India has become a leader for the ECHO movement.

This Indian Non-Profit Saves Mothers and Babies

A mother-daughter nonprofit team, focused on reducing neonatal and maternal deaths in India, found a solution with ECHO. Every Infant Matters uses the ECHO Model to train frontline health care workers on critical emergency response care and perinatal care best practices.

“Ninety percent of the people we train are women, so all of our work with ECHO is directed toward making women feel more empowered,” says Dr. Radhika Batra. “This [ECHO] training gives women strength to stand up for what they believe in.”

Improving Gender Equity, One Classroom at a Time

After two years of careful curriculum planning and research, the ECHO India team launched the groundbreaking ECHO for Gender Equity in Schools program. Reaching 15 different states in India, the initial participants discussed understanding gender and gender equity, long-term impacts of gender inequity, and ultimately, how to integrate sustainable practices into their own classrooms.

Rigorous evaluations and in-program surveys have shown success at every school site.

ECHO India: Building a Country-Wide Network for Holistic Health

Since the ECHO India Trust was established in 2008, the ECHO Model has become the country’s preeminent solution for improving last-mile health care, from small mountain villages to coastal cities.

Today, the ECHO India team is focused on solving country wide systems-level challenges that affect health and well-being: clean water, education, gender equity and sustainable farming practices.

“We’ve come a long way, but our work is far from over. Every life improved, every provider empowered, drives us forward. In ECHO, we see the future of health care, and it’s a future where quality care is within everyone’s reach,” Dr. Col. Kumud Rai, chairperson and managing trustee of the ECHO India Trust.

Partner Testimonial

Dr. Sandeep Bhalla

Vice President of Projects, ECHO India

The ECHO Model reaches to the last mile. It is a trusted human network which ECHO has created for the democratization of knowledge. That is why the ECHO Model is the flagship program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the government of India.

In India, that trusted human network has increased day by day and year by year with our partners, and now, we have tens of thousands of workers, and millions of patients, who owe their health and their education to the ECHO Model.