Dr. Dhir is following in her parent’s footsteps at the Center where all three volunteer. In 2017, Hena’s parents, Rajesh Dhir, MS, and Monica Dhir, MBBS, initiated a vaccine program that provides essential vaccines often unavailable to the inhabitants of rural villages like Anupshahar, as well as other vaccines not included in India’s official National Immunization Program.

The Dhir family pays for the typhoid vaccine and funds for the hepatitis vaccine are provided by others. Gardasil has been added to the list of vaccines they give the girls, to protect against the strains of human papillomavirus that are associated with genital, mouth, and throat cancers.

When describing her work at the Prana Health Center, Hena, a graduate of the Government Medical College in Patiala, India says, “It gives me immense pleasure and happiness to see India’s future in the hands of such talented and hard-working girls. As a doctor, I am doing my part to give them a healthy future so they can explore their potential by being healthy, mentally and physically.”

Dr. Hena Dhir is a resident medical officer at Dharam Hospital in Chandigarh, India.