On 3rd December 2009, the 25th Anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, the Bhopal Medical Appeal will be hosting a music evening at the O2 centre to commemorate those who were lost and celebrate the spirit of the survivors. Leading up to this event their objectives are to take the Bhopal Health and Justice campaigns to events and into communities all over Britain.

The events will include:
ï A presence at art, music and literature festivals all over the UK throughout the summer in a specially fitted tour bus.
ï They will also be touring schools and Universities, with the aim of complimenting the national curriculum on topics such as sustainability, shaping choices made by the next generation. Essays, activities and competitions will all be showcased on a microsite’.
ï There will be a FC United charity football match, Oct 2009. Some legendary footballers have already pledged to play.
ï Cycle Bhopal, A 450km ride across the Malwa plateau and Rajasthan, will happen on 6–15 November 2009. It is hoped that around £2790 will be raised by each participant — for more information visit: www​.cyclebhopal​.org​.uk
ï There are plans for a Nationwide poetry event, to be presided over by Wendy Cope, Radio 4 listener’s choice for Poet Laureate.

The Bhopal Medical Appeal’s first campaign, appeared in The Guardian and The Observer on the 10th anniversary, in December 1994. It received an incredibly generous response. It allowed Ihe Sambhavna Trust to buy a building and recruit doctors and staff. To date its Clinic has treated more than 12,000 people and they employ thirty staff, roughly half of whom are themselves gas survivors. They carry out valuable studies — one of which has recently been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and its aim is to inform, educate and train people in gas-affected communities to monitor their health. Working to a principle of ‘first do no harm’ The Sambhavna Trust have pioneered new treatments combining modern medicine with traditional ayurvedic herbal medicine and yoga. Their work has now won a string of humanitarian awards.

For more about the work of the Sambhavana Clinic please click here to read.