Blockchain For Impact (BFI)-backed India Health and Climate Resilience Fund (IHCRF) and the Chamarajanagar District Administration have inked a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Using a human-centered design method, this partnership marks the start of an ambitious fellowship program that will try to solve important public health problems.

The initiative is funded with about ₹1.5 crore set aside for innovation and prototyping over three years. It will work closely with local health authorities, community leaders, and healthcare providers to come up with long-lasting solutions that work in this district's healthcare system. 

A New Way of Looking at Public Health The main goal of the program is to find and deal with important problems like child malnutrition, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), maternal health, and infectious diseases. The fellowship wants to use a participatory method to help people come up with solutions that work with Chamarajanagar's specific healthcare system. 

"Working with IHCRF shows how dedicated we are to giving all Chamarajanagar residents high-quality health care," said Smt. Shilpa Nag C T, IAS, District Commissioner of Chamarajanagar District. "We believe this initiative will empower our community to co-create a public healthcare system that is truly responsive and resilient to current and future challenges." 

The Hon'ble Minister of the Social Welfare Department in Karnataka, Shri (Dr.) H.C. Mahadevappa, said, "Chamarajanagar District should capitalize on this (IHCRF) opportunity to address public health challenges."  He also emphasized how important this project was. 

A bigger effect is all over India. The IHCRF project selected five areas in four states: Karnataka, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Assam. Chamarajanagar is one of them. Since May 2024, IHCRF has given USD 1 million to help 10 fellows. Later stages will expand the program to include people from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

"The human-centered design approach, combined with the expertise of our fellows and the commitment of local stakeholders, will ensure that we develop sustainable and impactful solutions tailored to the district’s unique needs," said Dr. Varna Sri Raman, program director at IHCRF. 

Ensure that the capacity endures for an extended periodThe fellowship also focuses on building people's skills and sharing information, which gives local health workers the tools they need to keep the interventions going over time. This makes sure that the answers not only deal with the problems that are happening right now but also make the local health system stronger. 

A strong monitoring and evaluation framework will also keep track of the effects of interventions, letting things keep getting better and more in line with local goals. The end goal is to train a group of public health leaders who can help local nonprofits and make government healthcare systems stronger. 

About BFI and IHCRF. We created IHCRF to address challenging public health issues. The PHIA Foundation runs it, with support from Blockchain For Impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, BFI's first goal was to improve healthcare. Since then, it has switched its attention to preventative and early intervention activities. 

BFI has committed USD 15 million to the BIOME Virtual Network, which helps research institutes, medical companies, and other biomedical industry stakeholders work together. The group wants to come up with new ways to provide healthcare, with a focus on fairness and easy entry for disadvantaged groups. 

As Chamarajanagar starts on this path to change, the partnership with IHCRF shows how innovative, locally based approaches can help make India's healthcare systems strong and open to everyone.