The Ladakh Medical Aid gGmbH is a German Charity Organization located in Esslingen am Neckar, commited to preserving and providing dental health for the local people of the remote region of Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas. We treat patients free of charge in Choglamsar, near Leh, which is one of the highest-altitude, permanently inhabited cities in the world. Here, medical care is most often not available at all, or way too costly.
Dr. Rainer Roos
Ulrike Roos
… and all the many hard-working volunteer helpers, as well as our generous sponsors and donors!
The Ladakh Medical Aid gGmbh was founded by Dr. Rainer Roos and his wife Ulrike Roos. It was only by accident that the two learned about the charity project of Buddhist monch Venerable Sangasena in Ladakh. We were facing a seemingly unsolvable problem: neither our prosperity nor the economic recovery that India has been experiencing has reached this mountainous region. „Most people practice almost medieval dental care“ says Dr. Roos. That finding made him want to tackle the issue and use all possibilities to provide hands-on help. In the same year of 2010, Dr. Roos founded his first dental clinic in India.
Our goal is to bring basic medical and dental care to the Indian Himalayas. We have already successfully acheived this with the establishment of the Klinik Ladakh in 2018. We don’t want to just maintain this commitment, we want to expand it as well.
Our next goal: The purchase of a vehicle that can be used as a mobile dental practice.
From 2016 to 2018 we built a dental clinic with the help of donations, great volunteer helpers and generous sponsors. The rooms are professionally equipped and allow modern treatment under sterile conditions. In addition, we dispatch volunteer medical professionals and physicians who treat patients free of charge. Dr. Roos himself travels to India once a year to carry out treaments, and our dedicated helpers provide valuable education on prophylaxis, nutrition and regular dental hygiene.
We actively help, and are there on site. We literally move mountains to spark people for our project. We have to rely on donations, sponsors, helpers and volunteer physicians without whom the Klinik Ladakh project would not have been possible.
Our philosophy is to provide acute help, but it goes beyond that. We want to build something long-term. We don’t only want to help when the tooth aches. We want to actively spark a change in the local population’s thinking. It is actually fairly easy to maintain a healthy dentition, and that is what we teach at our camps. We teach children how to brush their teeth from early on, we educate, and we get patients used to getting regular dental check-ups. Additionally, our work shows young people career prospects and is capacity building.
Both active and financial support is welcome:
Your support is a valuable contribution to improving the living conditions of the people of Ladakh.
