Ganesh Shanbhag established Forecast Advertising Pvt. Ltd; a full service INS accredited advertising agency two decades ago.
Success has turned him socially responsible. Joining the new breed of a 'Social Entrepreneur'; he has been associated as the managing trustee and founder of a not for profit N.G.O Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) since the last 7 years. Ganesh believes that "A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows", under his vision HHF is engaged in fostering public awareness on for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes management. The NGO subsidies medical cost, offer education and routine checkup by organizing check up camps with the help of medical experts and hospitals. HHF's propriety events Diabetic Life, (Lets defeat diabetes) and Healthy Heart (Eat Healthy, live Healthy) have helped to generate public awareness on Diabetes and Heart Care management on a national level. Subsidized Medical check-up, Patient Education Gallery, Interactive lecture and interaction with leading medical experts is a holistic practice HHF adopts in public to achieve the required objectives.
A diabetic himself, Ganesh is empathetic towards the needy and works actively to build a network of support system for them. Today one can truly say Helping Hand Foundation is a NGO founded by a diabetic patient for the diabetic patients and their care takers.
If one studies the entire journey of the treatment of a diabetic patient, one witnesses a shocking truth. Pharmaceutical companies manufacture and distribute the drug for profits and so do the medical retail. Doctors charge hefty consultation fees each time a patient visits and the government is only interested to levy taxes on the drugs. Who bears the brunt and the cost of the treatment? It is the patient who is at the receiving end and suffers the most.
Nobody across the treatment chain looks at the patient sympathetically. 'Affordable treatment' and "patient education" for better control is just a distant dream. To address all these major concerns to the public, Helping Hand Foundation was started.
At the end of the day the pains and suffering of a patient can be understood better by the patient and their care takers.
The diabetic who knows the most will live the longest
- Dr. Elliott Joslin, Founder, Joslin Clinic, Boston, USA