SISHU is a pioneering quality improvement initiative for advancing newborn screening in underserved areas developed through a joint collaboration between the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) in India and UCLA Global Health. Dr. Kumar Suryanarayana, the visionary pediatrician behind this initiative, has for over a decade tried to bring equitable care for newborns at Vivekananda Memorial Hospital-- a rural hospital serving a population of approximately 300,000 rural-indigenous tribals in Saragur, Karnataka, India. Initial steps included a transcutaneous bilirubin screening programme in 2012 in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco, followed by the pioneering effort of introducing newborn genetic screening in rural areas, beginning with cord umbilical blood hemoglobin electrophoresis and TSH testing to address the high prevalence of sickle cell disease and congenital hypothyroidism among tribal-rural populations. Subsequently, he and Dr. Deepashree Ramachandra, an audiologist established a newborn hearing screening centre in collaboration with All India Institute for Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru, offering hearing screening to close to 3500 rural-tribal newborns born in that area annually. His tireless dedication has focused on bridging the gap toward equitable newborn care for vulnerable communities, guided by the vision that “every newborn thrives, and birth is not a barrier but a powerful beginning.”