A new community healthcare platform was launched under the head of ‘Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa Healthcare Initiatives’, Goa, on Oct 30, 2021. ‘Happy Healthy Goa’, under the Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa Healthcare Initiatives’, is a community platform launched by the family of late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa from Aquem – Alto, Margao.
The initiative was launched on 30th October, being the 55th wedding anniversary of late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa and his wife, Tereza Rebello e Costa, a former high school teacher teaching Portuguese, French and English at educational institutes in her native Curtorim village.
The initiative is being handled by their children Francisca, Jeannette who are both in the field of education and Cedric da Costa, journalist, Mc, environmentalist, and a social and political influencer.
Fr Patricio Fernandes, SFX, Rector of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa, blessed the venture after a simple mass at the Basilica extorting the intercession of St Francis Xavier through Mother Mary and Jesus Christ for the new healthcare platform which will operate from Margao.
Late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa, was a staunch devotee of St Francis Xavier and was a simple family man, who contracted diabetes at a very young age and lived with it till a ripe old age of 78, often struggling but controlling it with diet restrictions, exercise, gardening and medications.
Costa always maintained that to live successively with diabetes, three steps are essential – diet, exercise and medications. An avid gardener post his retirement from service with the Sarvottam Mallaya & Sons Group, Margao, da Costa took up to gardening as a positive pass time mostly to stay active to control his diabetes. During the late 80s Goa was not really aware of diabetes and also the necessary health infrastructure was not available in Goa, making it difficult and in such circumstances, da Costa had to be taken to Bangalore for an open heart surgery.
Post that da Costa always wanted to create awareness among Goans about the struggle related to complications arising out of diabetes and its subsequent side effects.
“It is the dream of my late husband for Goans that I am happy is finally being realised by our family”, said Tereza Rebelo e Costa, widow of late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa.
Da Costa would say, “A healthy Goa would always be a happy Goa, lamenting on the poor health infra in Goa and India which makes Goans seek medical treatment outside Goa for simple ailments.
Late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa, envisioned a ‘Happy Healthy Goa’ always and it was his dream to reach out to children and senior citizens with a healthcare platform. Da Costa was also concerned about various healthcare issues the girl child and woman was facing and wanted this platform to cater to girls and woman for their basic healthcare needs. The platform promises a better level of healthcare awareness and solutions to Goans. The initiative was to be launched earlier but delayed due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“The worst sufferes of the pandemic were diabetics as there is no much awareness and care for the dreaded disease in Goa”, said Francisca da Costa, a computer teacher at Loyola High School, Margao and daughter of late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa.
Under Happy Healthy Goa platform the family of da Costa, wishes to organise various medical camps and raise awareness of healthcare in Goa in the coming months not just of diabetes awareness and cure but of many other health issues Goans are currently affected with.
Mc Cedric da Costa, son of late Isidoro Caetaninho da Costa, compared and proposed the thanks vote vowing to reach out to the common man in Goa through the healthcare platform, specially to the rural areas of Goa, the younger generation and senior citizens.
