Anil Patil
Putting carers on the global agenda
All people are carers, in some way or for some time. Routine caring is innate—we raise children, tend to sick relatives, look after aging parents, form bonds of love and friendship that hold caring as implicit. However, among us—we, the general carers—is a critical population of more specialized carers. They devote their lives to helping others navigate chronic illness, disability, or age, often at great personal cost. Such carers exist everywhere, but rarely are their contributions recognized and their own needs met. Anil Patil founded Carers Worldwide to improve the lives of tens of thousands of carers in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Carers Worldwide provides support systems to families that allow them to take regular breaks or even a vacation. They also work to ensure young carers - 97% of whom are girls - can go back to school. Anil is quick to point out that carers are also very proud of the service they provide to their loved ones—there is not only need, but also great strength, courage, creativity, skill, and potential.
Impact
Serving 70,000+ carers and family members in 3 countries
Helped create 22 community caring centers, enabling young carers to go back to school and adult carers to take a break or get paid for their work
For the first time, informal family carers are being counted by census and included in policy formulation.
By 2030, Carers Worldwide plans to reach 10 million people through a combination of programs and policy changes
Interesting fact from Anil:
"There are more than 6 million carers in the UK; that is, roughly one person in eight has some informal caring duties. The government calculates their contribution at 134 billion pounds, more than the National Health Service budget in 2017. Approximately two-thirds are women with the number of male carers slowly increasing. Although we don’t have numbers for every country, we can expect carers to similarly factor into the economy."
