Dr. Swaiman Singh was born in a village in Amritsar, Punjab (India), and immigrated to the US with his family when he was 10 years old. He studied in New Jersey and graduated with a medical degree from Rutgers University. He completed his residency in Philadelphia. He observed that worldwide cardiovascular diseases were responsible for more than 18 million deaths. About 36 million were afflicted with disabilities, mostly in countries with people having low- and middle incomes. Dr. Swaiman Singh established the “Five Rivers Heart Association” to respond to this crisis in 2012.
Originally, screening and treatment of patients were focused in rural areas of Punjab. Treatment covered all fields of Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, and Nephrology. He presented his findings and experiences in research papers at conferences of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, Transcatheter Valve Therapies, Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and Cardiovascular Research Technologies. He planned to take these free services to the poor in Columbia, Ghana, Egypt, and underserved areas of the United States.
His career was taking off, with a few months left in a three-year cardiology fellowship at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey. However, he returned to the Delhi border where he selected an abandoned bus terminal and converted it into a medical clinic. Farmers, who were protesting outside Delhi in connection with their demands, and the other poor in the neighborhood were given free medical treatment here. The entire operation was run by the Five Rivers Heart Association.
He collected blankets and other necessities for the patients and invited doctors and volunteers for this humanitarian work. Shelters were constructed outside the hospital for elderly men. Inside, separate accommodation was provided for elderly women. Water heating and filtration systems and portable toilets were procured. Trees were planted. Supply shops and a library were set up. A projector screen was fixed for health educational videos for the farmers and the slum-dwellers. The hospital is working although the Farmers’ Protest has ended.
Dr. Swaiman Singh has joined Mayo Institute at Rochester in Minnesota, as a Research Scientist. This is one of the prestigious medical centers in America and specializes in advanced research in cancer and cardiology. Dr. Swaiman Singh believes in “Chardi Kala,” which means eternal optimism, and in dedicated, relentless “Nishkam Seva”, the selfless service to the underserved, throughout the world.
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