International Seminars

In November 2003, Lama Chogyal was invited by the Tokyo Woman Medical University at the 4th International Symposium on Chronobiology. Lama Chogyal was also invited to participate in a half hour radio program broadcasted on BBS Radio, in South Korea. Lama Chogyal then had the unique opportunity to present most of the LHF activities in Ladakh, addressing a broad auditory, which gave good results as the Koreans did respond in a very positive way, including some very helpful donations.

Village Clinics and health camps

Over the course of the past year, approximately 700 patients have been seen in village clinics, as part of the out-reach programme. We have been able to dispense free medicines for a very wide variety of ailments, and feel that a large impact can be made on each individual's quality of life, through schemes such as these. The clinics are always very popular.

Patient Register

The maintenance of the patient register is an on-going project. At present we are maintaining a database of 135 patients suffering from Rheumatic Heart Disease, which is important both for the monitoring of the condition of these individuals, and as a resource for research into the condition. Fortunately, over the past two years there have been only three new cases of rheumatic heart disease (only three over the past year), and this is a reduction that we have tried to achieve through the provision of free Penidure (Benzopenicillin) injections at hospitals, clinics and village centres for those with symptoms that are suggestive of a streptococcal throat infection. Though this steady reduction in cases is welcome, we are aiming for a total eradication of new cases over the next few years, through continuing increased awareness and education, and the availability of suitable medicines. We also maintain registers of patients with other conditions, monitoring 84 individuals with Congenital Heart Disease, 22 individuals with serious Arrhythmia, and 23 cases of Coronary Artery Disease, as well as 4 individuals now registered under the new database about neurological cases, such as those that follow a stroke, as we feel that this is intrinsically linked with heart disease, and therefore the aims of the Foundation.