Aman Foundation

What is the Aman Foundation involved in?

The Aman Foundation is a local, self-funded, not-for-profit trust, based and operating in Pakistan. Inspired by a proactive commitment to the cause of human development, the Foundation aspires to make strategic interventions in Pakistan to support development through the relentless pursuit of sustainable, scalable and systemic development in the areas of Health, Education and Capacity Building.

Apart from its own social development initiatives, Aman Foundation also engages in venture philanthropy by providing strategic grants to high-social-impact organisations that work in the Foundation’s core areas of focus.

Can you provide details of the AMANAMBULANCE Service briefly?

AMANAMBULANCE Service consists of a strategically positioned network of 100 state-of-the-art ambulances, with doctors and emergency medical technicians (EMT) on board to provide comprehensive, round-the-clock coverage to the city of Karachi. With the launch of its 10th station the ambulance service now covers almost 100 per cent of Karachi.

Is the service free?

The AMANAMBULANCE SERVICE is not free. However, compared to the charges incurred on a single ambulance transfer we charge a nominal fee. The rate from any Government/ Trust Hospital to any other Hospital is Rs400; the cost remains the same while transferring a patient from home to a Government/Trust hospital. It costs Rs800 from home to a private hospital, and Rs1500 from home to a premium hospital. Return trips from any of the above costs twice as much Rs800, Rs1600 andRs3000 respectively.

What is ProQA?

ProQA™ is the premier Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) software that offers the automated tools needed to provide the very best in pre-hospital patient care. During the course of an emergency medical call, ProQA guides the process of collecting vital information from the caller, obtaining the patient’s status, choosing an appropriate dispatch level, and instructing the caller with medically approved protocols until the dispatched units arrive at the scene.

What is AMANTELEHEALTH?

AMANTELEHEALTH provides triage and medical advice over a 24-hour telephone helpline and features a 26-desk Call Centre staffed with medical advisors and doctors. The Call Centre has the capacity to handle approximately 1200 calls per month.

How did the concept emerge?

The idea behind the concept is access to quality healthcare for all. It has been observed that in Mega-cities such as Karachi inaccessibility to and unaffordability of quality healthcare are major challenges that have exacerbated 40 per cent of the disease profile that is easily treatable. Keeping this in view AMANTELEHEALTH came up with an e-health model that would tackle issues of affordability and access by providing medical advice over the phone.

What is the Aman Community Health Programme?

The Community Health Worker (CHW) Programme will disseminate basic preventive healthcare information through community members to reduce the incidence of disease and death. This programme is also designed to empower underprivileged citizens, especially women, to participate in community welfare activities and increase their access to medical attention for key healthcare issues.

The CHW Programme will, in addition to spreading information, provide in-home care to bridge the crucial gap between diagnosis and treatment. It will also open up a vital gateway to under-privileged communities for the Aman Foundation and its partners.

Why did Aman venture into Mental Health?

According to the World Health Organisation around 15 per cent of Pakistani population or some 25 million people suffer from mild to moderate psychiatric illness and some 1.7 million people suffer from severe mental illness. Unfortunately, there is an enormous gap between the need for treatment of mental disorders and the resources available. As per one estimate there are only 4 mental hospitals and less than 800 psychiatrists and psychologists combined in a country of 170 million (around 1 per 200,000 persons).

Keeping in view the alarming situation, The i-Care Foundation and The Aman Foundation in collaboration with its implementation partners Pakistan Association for Mental Health (PAMH), Karwan-e-Hayat and Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS) have launched Shamil for low income communities in Karachi to work towards addressing this issue.

What are Aman’s future plans in the health sector?

The Aman Foundation plans to establish a network of small hospitals based on proven models and supplement it with a dedicated shuttle service for those communities that live in remote areas. The Foundation’s goal is to establish crucial health relationships early on, so as to reduce rates of maternal and infant mortality and initiate additional health interventions such as midwife training and infant inoculation campaigns.

What is AMANTECH?

AMANTECH is a large scale vocational training institution, that provides a mix of vocational and soft skills training to youth through a 6-12 month programme. Aman plans to increase total capacity to 5,000 graduates per year within 5 years.

How many students have enrolled in the programme?

Thus far the Institute has 850 registered students that come from the length and breadth of Karachi.

What are the trades taught?

AMANTECH has successfully introduced five dynamic vocational disciplines tailored to meet the growing international demand for technically skilled resources:

• Metal Machining
• Welding
• Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
• General Electrician
• Automobile
• Quantity Surveying
• Computer Aided Design

In addition to technical education, AMANTECH also provides competency development in areas such as English language Skills, Information Technology, Behavioural Training and more; that would help workers adjust and adapt in an effective manner internationally.

Who qualifies for admission?

Matriculation is the minimum qualification needed for entry to AMANTECH.

What is the Aman Ghar?

Aman Ghar is the Aman Foundation’s school-feeding programme that has improved nutrition and incentivised school enrolment and attendance in school-going children in Khuda Ki Basti — a low-income suburb in Karachi. Over time, the programme hopes to create a replicable operating model that other interested players can adopt nationwide.

Who are the Foundation’s grant recipients?

The Aman Foundation has given grants worth USD 26.088 to a number of organisations including Institute of Business Administration, i-Care Foundation, Acumen Fund, KASHF Microfinance Bank, Injaz Pakistan.

What is the grant giving criteria?

Aman Foundation engages in venture philanthropy by providing strategic grants to high-social-impact organisations that work in the Foundation’s core areas of focus. Aman provides risk capital and early stage financing in core strategic philanthropy areas where others do not. Grants worth USD 26.088 million to-date have been made to leading initiatives in these sectors, striking partnerships with reputed institutions and organisations.