Ahmedabad: Launched under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative by the Government of India and on the occasion of World Health Day on April 7th, Special Olympics Bharat today launched the largest National Health Fest for people with intellectual disability (Divyangjan). This initiative will offer free health screening of 75,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities in over 75 cities of India to mark 75 years of India’s independence. The objective is for them to get back on track with their health and return to play in an inclusive world.

Supported by the Government of Gujarat, one of the biggest initiatives in this national initiative kicks off in Gujarat with around 10,000 Special Athletes from 33 districts, who will be medically screened. Out of these, over 7500 athletes are participating in the screening at the Karnavati University, Ahmedabad, on the 6th and 7th of April 2022. Meanwhile, athletes from 4 districts of Gujarat will also be screened in Surat at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium.

Speaking on the occasion of launching this first of its kind initiative, Dr. Mallika Nadda, Chairperson Special Olympics Bharat said, “Special Olympics Bharat supports people with intellectual disabilities using sports, health, youth leadership as interventions to improve their lives in a movement towards building inclusion, dignity and respect in society. Over 190 countries are part of this program and we are proud to say India is the largest running program across the world with over 17 lac special athletes from India registered as part of the Special Olympics movement. This program has spread across all towns, districts and villages. Covid 19 impacted these special athletes immensely. They could not access sporting activities or schools. We need to help them return to play, and the first step we need to take is a health screening via this National Health Fest for Divyangjan. We must accept, include, recognise and respect these special athletes.”

This milestone event for Special Olympics was also witnessed by global leadership of Special Olympics. Dr. Alicia Bazzano, Chief Health Officer, Special Olympics International said, “Sadly people with intellectual disabilities were affected more drastically by the pandemic. Our athletes suffered from declining mental and physical health during this time. People with intellectual disabilities face a lot of health issues which may not be due to the disability itself but due to preventable conditions. If we detect these conditions early and provide inclusive healthcare it can significantly impact their life spans as well. There are over 20 million Indians living with intellectual disability today, this event is a marker of what a modern and inclusive India looks like.”

Further adding to this, Mr. Dipak Natali, President & Managing Director, Special Olympics Asia Pacific aptly concluded, “What is wonderful about what we are doing today is expanding peoples understanding of what we do with Special Olympics. While sports is the start of the journey of our athletes with special Olympics, we find opportunities to change their lives. The first step in that journey is health screening. Events such as this really helps change the way people with intellectual disabilities are treated in their communities.”

Gujarat would screen the maximum number of athletes across three disciplines, Special Smiles (Dental), Opening Eyes (Eye examination), and Health Promotion (Preventive & Nutrition), conducted by 750 clinical volunteers. supported by 500 non-clinical volunteers and involving overall 7-8 medical institutions from the surrounding areas of Ahmedabad.

Following medical screenings that will be conducted on 7 April, the athletes will then assemble for the closing ceremony at the Narendra Modi Stadium from 5:30 PM – 7PM. The event will be presided by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel. He will be joined by many more distinguished guests including, Dr. Alicia Bazzano, Chief Health Officer of Special Olympics International, Mr Dipak Natali, Regional President & Managing Director of Special Olympics Asia Pacific, and Dr Mallika Nadda, Chairperson of Special Olympics Bharat and Dr DG Chaudhari, General Secretary of SO Bharat.

The event will feature the popular Porbandar Gujarati Dandiya Raas. The cultural show will be followed by a Fit 5 regimen demonstrated by 5000 athletes, and will also be pitched for the Guinness Book of Records. The celebratory ambiance will scale with the announcement of the various awards received by SO Bharat through the health fest.

Upholding the World Health Day and celebrating an Inclusive health week, SO Bharat will medically screen 75000 athletes with intellectual disabilities on 5 and 7 of April 2022 across 75 cities of India marking the 75 years of independence. Prior to the event 7500 clinical volunteers would be trained according to the Special Olympics guidelines, to carry out the screenings effectively. The Athletes will be screened across Special Smiles (Dental) and Health Promotion (prevention & nutrition) all over India, while Opening Eyes (eye examination) will be carried out in the state of Gujarat only. The Special Olympics Fit 5 demonstration will be conducted at the screening venues. Fit 5 is a plan for physical activity, nutrition, and hydration, aiming to improve the health and fitness of the athletes and persons from a cross-section of the society. 750 Special Olympics Bharat Centers will be activated in phases, encouraging the Athletes to include sports in their daily lives. The registrations of the athletes will be executed through an indigenously designed mobile application designed to promote digital access and establish a monitoring system for the Athletes creating a timeline for each.

Special Olympics Bharat is a National Sports Federation accredited by Special Olympics Inc.USA, to conduct sports and development programs all over India. Special Olympics Bharat is registered with the Indian Trusts Act 1882 and is recognized by the Government of India as a National Sports Federation (since 2006) for the development of Sports for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Founded by Air Marshal Denzil Keelor PVSM, KC, AVSM, VrC, in 2001 it has over 1.5 million Athletes registered across all the States and Union Territories of India.

Special Olympics is a global inclusion movement using sport, health, education and leadership programs every day around the world to end discrimination against and empower people with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1968 by Ms Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics movement has grown to more than 6 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in more than 190 countries. Special Olympics works through seven regions, out of which India falls under the Asia Pacific Region. In the Asia Pacific region, Special Olympics has touched the lives of more than 1.7 million athletes across 35 countries.

With its inception in 2001, SO Bharat Gujarat currently has over 1 Lakh Athletes with Intellectual Disability registered with themselves.