Liver Foundation, West Bengal, aims at increasing the knowledge about liver problems and how to eradicate liver diseases and its occurrence in India. Through a multidimensional approach Liver Foundation West Bengal, has undertaken a plan of action that will spread awareness about liver disease- its causes, treatment approaches and prevention. The key activities associated in achieving this goal includes:

Mainstreaming of Rural Health Care providers for public health and liver health gains

It has been perceived by researchers and socialists in India that there is a widening gap in quality and access to health care between rural and urban areas of the country. While more then 80% of India´s population reside in villages, there is a centralization of health care in towns and cities. Some of the factors that render the health care delivery system sub-optimally useful are:

Widespread absenteeism, lack of motivation at all levels and confusing direction in overall health planning create a situation where even the availed trained personnel who will provide formal treatment are treated as foreign. One of the primary motives of any health care resource is to reach the people at the grass root level so that the patients can identify their problems and regard it as a serious problem which needs to be diagnosed and taken care.

When surveyed in villages, it was indicated from the survey that increasing structural presence of the formal public healthcare system in the rural areas, people largely depend on health workers that has been variously termed as unqualified, less than fully qualified personnel, RMPS, quacks etc. These rural health care providers (RHCP) are mostly village youths whose main purpose of action is to provide curative care to the village residents based on experience gained while working as a chamber assistant to doctors in nearby urban locations. Thus, a large and ever increasing number of such workers exist, function, and enjoy very close relationship with the people that are beyond official formal health care system.

Liver Foundation West Bengal belives that imparting minimum scientific understanding to the RHCP´s in the form of structural programme can

Contributory social security - Fund raising programmes for liver transplantation

Advanced technology- dense medical care is progressively going beyond the reach of the average Indian. While every person naturally desires the best available medical care, the cost is becoming an important cause of impoverishment and debt trap in the society. This is a problem more explicit in urban middle class, although rural people are also facing this problem in today´s society.

Indiscriminate and unplanned privatization of the tertiary health care infrastructure in India in the absence of proper vigilance and audit is converting the medical system in lucrative market for raising fast and huge profits.

It is dichotomous situation for the users. The public sector spending in tertiary care is gradually dwindling. On the other hand, private participation is converting medical care into a high- earning commodity, for which any price can be fixed. The current year´s budget envisages promotion of private investment in establishment of health care facilities, in rural areas, with tax holiday offers. This may aggravate the situation.

In area of liver disease, liver transplantation has ushered new hope for end stage in liver diseases. However it is highly expensive. Liver Foundation, West Bengal has undertaken an initiative named as "contributory social security", the objective of which is to raise funds from the society for those needing liver transplantation. It sparked off from a venture, where the Indian Cricket idol Mr. Saurav Ganguly auctioned his bats for the purpose of fund raising for Raj Goswami, a young boy who needed liver transplantation.

Subsequently, Liver Foundation decided to generate a corpus fund for this purpose. This is a continuous activity of Liver Foundation, West Bengal to receive donation through organizing cultural programmes to raise fund for transplantation of liver.

Building of a rural health care research and intervention center

Liver Foundation, West Bengal is currently building a center, which is intended to serve as the organization´s headquarters, in Birbhum district in West Bengal. Keeping in mind the rural focus of the organization, it was a conscious decision to locate the headquarters in rural areas. Saradish Roy Smriti Swasthya Bitan is functioning since last few years. Even we set up a minor OT.