Vedanthan calculates that 50 volunteer physicians and 75 volunteer nurses supported by 150 Rotarians have seen 11,000 patients, all at no charge. He acknowledges that it is very difficult for doctors to be involved in this kind of project because of the travel time involved. He said he has talked to fellows in training in hopes of convincing them to do a week or two of elective work in areas such as Mexico and South America. The volunteers who led an asthma camp at Makati Alaya, Manila, Philippines, gather for a group photo. This camp was held in July 1994.
Camps often have the dual purpose of educating both patients and doctors.
He would like to coordinate similar projects in larger cities, such as New York and Chicago. Even with all of these successes, Vedanthan believes International Asthma Services could be doing better if it had more resources. He suspects one problem is that he is better at being an allergist-immunologist than a fund raiser. There might, however, be 11,000 people from three continents who would say Vedanthan and International Asthma Services are doing just fine.