Archives of
Yr. 2016-17
PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMME
serving since 2012
id for tudents at isk or with ilment
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Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. Efforts taken to increase availability of free education in India are commendable. However, availing of this right has been relatively understudied. Our incubator project focuses on various health parameters which may affect the academic life of children through a series of pilots conducted at charitable trust run school in Mumbai.
Our first pilot was to tackle preventable blindness. Children with visual field defects, refractory errors of the eye etc are often unaware of it. They are unable to read properly. Consequently, they lose interest in classroom activities. Not aware of the real issue, they are often labeled as dull kids by supervising adults. A simple correction of such defects can turn around their lives especially in their formative years.
Our second pilot was to tackle hand-hygiene awareness. Diarrheal disease is a common occurrence in pediatric population even in absence of an epidemic. We conducted repeated periodic seminars to teach maintenance of hand hygiene & studied related effect on attendance. A simple lesson on Hand Hygiene with adequate revision & follow-up, can help combat diarrheal diseases. This also vindicates the importance of health education in school curriculum and highlights lack thereof in our present school curriculum.
ASRA in Hindi (language) means support.
brighter youth
for a
brighter future
Our third pilot was to tackle Nutritional issues- anemia & malnutrition, both of which are highly prevalent in India. We administered a supplementary fortified breakfast meal program and studied its effects on student’s health. Kids found it tasty, as evident from almost perfect compliance rates. There was a statistically significant rise in Hb levels and anthropometric indicators. The program was complemented by Nutrition counselling & education for awareness.
Our fourth pilot, this year, focused on menstrual health & hygiene- awareness & safe practices, since it is potentially a monthly cause of absenteeism among adolescent school girls. In a conservative setting, anything menstruation-related is considered a taboo. This makes the subject of menstrual health & hygiene challenging especially for adolescent girls. This may affect their academic life in terms of attendance as well as performance. We conducted interactive seminars for them, promoting awareness and safe practices, (complemented by distribution of sanitary kits by our parent Rotary Club of Bombay Central) and studied its effects on their academic life.
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Take-away message: We have been working on the same site for about 5 years now. This has led to a sense of familiarity between healthcare deliverers and receivers. Consequently there is healthy communication between the two. The school staff and students share their problems with us, conversely we get to observe the inner working of the school longitudinally over time making identification of existing problems easier. Both of these reasons have led to brainstorming of ideas, & subsequently development of pilots. Since our efforts are focused in form of these small-scale pilots, each pilot has been impactful and hence successful. Three of the four pilots have been the foundation for massive projects benefiting thousands of kids over the years. This project stands out as a case study because of following reasons:
1) It makes public health interactive.
2) It exemplifies building trust for productive public health programs and their acceptance among target audience.
3) Classic case of 'T-approach' of an incubator project. Longitudinal line of T- symbolizes focus on a pilot in depth, study of program- (working and impact). Horizontal line- symbolizes expansion of outreach by scaling up project.
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FAIMER (Phil, USA) Student Project For Health 2016 winner felicitated at TUFH Conf, China.
"Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years."
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- Bill Gates
