Each person will have a pivotal moment that alters the trajectory of their life. Dr. Nordan Otzer experienced two significant life turning events that permanently altered his dreams.
It was 2007. Dr. Nordan was employed at a rural hospital in Tamil Nadu. He learned one day that his mother had cervical cancer, which had already progressed to her liver. As soon as he got this news, Dr. Nordan ran home. Regretfully, she didn’t survive one month after being diagnosed. That marked the initial inflection moment in Dr. Nordan’s life.
Up until then, his objective was to work in a large hospital and relocate overseas. However, following this occurrence, he returned to his home hamlet of Hunder in the Nubra Valley and began working as a medical officer at the local district government hospital.
While he was employed at the district hospital, his life underwent another significant turning point.
“Mr. Ishey Tundup, the principal of a school in Leh, called me one day. He remembers that he was unable to locate Sonam Dolma, one of his students. Due to bone cancer, Doma’s right leg was amputated below the knee. She was in excruciating pain, and I was powerless to stop the helplessness I was feeling.
We guaranteed the parents that we would locate a sponsor when we spoke with them about getting her treated in Delhi, says Dr. Nordan. After locating a sponsor, Dr. Nordan transported her to Delhi. Her legs were amputated below the hips by the specialists there, and she was healing nicely. She suddenly passed away as things grew worse.At that point, Dr. Nordan decided enough was enough. He asserts that greater information regarding physical health and anatomy was needed, particularly for women in relation to reproductive health. He felt that this had to change, so he set out on his “nomadic” trek to educate the people in this far-flung region of India about modern medicine.
However, there were other problems in Nubra to be resolved. These women would shyly glance down at me when I talked about the cervix or breasts. Nevertheless, I could see by looking into their eyes that they were appreciative that someone was bringing these topics up and increasing awareness among them. During this year-long outreach program, I got to know almost every woman living in Nubra. I discussed with them the signs of breast or cervical cancer as well as the necessity of routine examinations, screenings, and medical intervention,” he claims. He also asked some Singaporean gynecologists for assistance.
Hundreds of women showed up for the examination, including some who were well and had no symptoms or health problems. Since the team’s founding in 2010, over 10,000 women from all over Ladakh have been screened by the specialists under Dr. Nordan’s direction. Of these, 1,000 had precancerous lesions. The Himalayan Women’s Health Project serves as the organization’s operating name.
The obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Quek Swee Chong, who works in Singapore, supported Dr. Nordan in this endeavor and stated that there is a highly non-invasive, low morbidity, painless, and straightforward treatment to treat these precancerous lesions. We refer to it as the “screen-and-treat” strategy.
Speaking about his experience, he states that the initial years were spent gathering information, gauging the degree of disease prevalence, and building rapport with the community.
These camps take place annually; the most recent one was held in Nubra three weeks ago. “I think no one should have to go through what I went through since I lost my mother when I was young. People can prevent most ailments if they have more knowledge about their bodies, which is the answer to our problems. I work the way I do because of this, he explains.
He was also successful in establishing a tobacco-free zone in Nubra. Dr. Nordan collaborated with other moms in the area and the Women’s Alliance of Ladakh, a volunteer women’s organization, to educate the locals about the risks associated with tobacco addiction, especially for young adolescents. He started his outreach work in isolated areas of Ladakh without access to healthcare in the interim. There, Dr. Nordan and his colleagues would provide free medical examinations and medicine distributions. In 2012, he started a restaurant and cafe in Leh and took out a bank loan to pay for these free drugs.
Any money I generate from these ventures is used to purchase medications, which I then give away for free. Since my family is financially stable, I don’t need to set aside any of my income. He responds, “I can use that money for social services.”
