Niranjana Public Health Initiative
India is a country of more than 1 billion people, of which, 260 million live under the poverty line. In BIHAR, one of India‘s poorest states:
- More than 40% of people live below the poverty line
- The infant mortality rate is extremely high
- Less than 25% of children are immunised
- It has the lowest literacy rate in India (47%)
Health problems faced by this area:
- Tuberculosis
- Malaria
- HIV/AIDS
- Polio
- Hepatitis
- Parasites
- Malnutrition related diseases
- Conditions caused by unsafe birthing practices (eg. cerebral palsy)
- Sickness due to water/food contamination
- Death or permanent disability due to absence of emergency medical treatment
Project aim
The aim of this project is to sustainably improve the quality of life of the most disadvantaged people in this region. The project strives to achieve this by providing health care to the poorest, with a strong focus on health awareness, education and community involvement.
These efforts involve:
- Offering a free clinic in a central village (initially Sujata village)
- Regular mobile clinics for more isolated regions
- Health educators regularly visiting villages and teaching within the clinic
- Community Health Committees formed within each targeted village
- Providing a 24 hour ambulance service to currently isolated villages in a 10km radius
Primary focuses
- Firstly, helping patients return to good health by supplying needed care and medicine
- Disease prevention by raising patients awareness of good health practices
- Raising awareness of modes of STD transmission and offering preventative measures
- Women‘s health and family planning education
- Maternal care – encouraging regular checkups and teaching safe birthing practices
- Child health, encouraging mothers to bring their children for regular checkups to monitor growth, have necessary vaccinations and to ensure early diagnosis of disease
- Support and health education for adolescents going into adulthood
- Support for complex cases to receive specialised care from referred physicians
- Promotion of ‘healthy villages’ involving sanitation, safe water and health practices
- Establishing ‘Community Health Committees‘ in each village to encourage more sustainable change and to receive feedback on progress and needs
- Treating all patients with equal love and respect, regardless of gender, caste or religion
Target villages
We target the poorest villages in our greater region and for clinic visitors, set a basic requirement of earnings less than 1000 Rp / Month (about AU$24) to qualify for free medical treatment. People fitting this criteria are given patient membership cards with which they can seek treatment as often as needed, free of charge.
Health education
Our health educators (male and female) visit villages and also teach in the Sujata village clinic. They will focus on:
- Women's health issues
- Adolescent sex education
- Promoting birth spacing/first pregnancy from 18 and general family planning
- Good low cost nutrition – important components for adults and children
- How to grow nutritious foods considering the conditions of the local soil
- Prevention and treatment of common diseases and conditions, including HIV and TB
- The characteristics of a 'healthy village' and how to achieve and maintain them
- Maintaining support for the Community Health Committee established in each village
Community health committees
A Community Health Committee is formed in each village and is comprised of several male and female villagers with good leadership qualities. It will be their responsibility to attend all health education lessons with the other villagers and lead the village into a healthier lifestyle. The Committees are given training and will be responsible for:
- Recognising the symptoms of certain diseases and sending any suspected cases for checkup to avoid the spread of infection in the village
- Initiating the implementation of healthy village components such as applying for sanitation and safe drinking water facilities
- Encouraging mothers to give birth with a properly trained midwife or in the government hospital and to have children go for regular checkups to monitor health/development
- Ensuring a good general attendance at health education sessions in the village
- Monitoring and reporting to us any other problems faced by the village and helping to develop sustainable solutions
Child vaccinations
While many vaccinations are supplied by the government’s Primary Health Centre, the infrastructure for their administration is not sufficient without the help of the NGOs in the area. Vaccinations we administer may include Polio, Diptheria, Tetanus, TB, Measles, and other immune boosters.
Mobile health clinics
The mobile clinics visit more distant villages and supply free medicine and a health education lesson. Periodically, information is distributed on various health concerns (to literate villagers) and the Community Health Committees will be consulted and given any support they need.
Case study – Balmaki Nagar (Niman Region)
Balmaki Nagar is a Harijan village, which means its inhabitants are people considered outside the Indian caste system. They are extremely poor and mostly work as laborers on the surrounding landowner’s farms or in the neighbouring brick factory. In a village of 700 people, our mobile clinic treated over 250 new patients in just 5 weekly visits. Within this group, 3 severe cases of Tuberculosis were identified and these patients are now receiving the advanced medical treatment they require. This involvement is was followed up with visits to Balmaki Nagar by the health educator to raise awareness about Tuberculosis and its prevention. The health educator will also encourages the village Community Health Committee to take a vigilant approach to recognising and reporting any other suspected cases in the future. Other classes on subjects including nutrition are also taught here and diet supplements are provided to those who need them. As it is within walking distance, when our clinic in Sujata village opened, this village gained more regular access to free medical care and health education.
