AMCHI: Vashind Villages eke out a New Beginning for its Undernourished Children

Regular health checks, advocacy programmes and medical supplements contribute towards bettering the health of vulnerable groups

 

“My son was in the yellow colour zone in the growth chart and he was very weak as well. My family is from a tribal community and we have no money to spend on medical treatments. I am very thankful to PF and JSW Foundation that they organised a health camp in my village and my son got treatment and medicine. As a result, I observed his weight has increased and his illness has also reduced. He looks healthy and has been in good form for the last two months.”

• Jayshri Waghe,Mother of Ritesh Waghe, Sherewadi

Population First’s healthcare extension project supported by our long-term partner, JSW Foundation in Vashind Beat 2, of Shahapur also continued in the Jan-Mar 2022 quarter. The objectives of this project are to reduce malnutrition among children between the ages of 0-6, provide nutrition security, and optimize healthcare services for adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women. 

Under this project, in this quarter, PF team completed 9 health camps across 12 villages, reached out to 208 children cumulatively, and provided them with medicines. These health camps not only provide an opportunity for tribal children to improve their weight through regular examinations and supplementary medications available at health camps but also, assist the healthcare service providers and even PHCs in addressing illnesses. 

One such situation occurred in the month of March when the healthcare service providers reported scabies cases among children. The PF team immediately reached the villages to confirm. Post a video consultation with Dr. Kapadia before the health camps, the PF team immediately purchased the medicines which were made available to the children who were affected. During the March month’s health camps, a handful more cases of scabies were reported. The PF team had informed the Medical Officer at Vashind PHC about the same. However, the latter informed that there were no stocks of medicines for scabies available at the PHC. 

“I really thank the PF team for identifying scabies and quickly providing medicines to control the situation, otherwise the entire village could have been affected. We had no medicine stock for scabies at our PHC at the time. If the disease had spread in the villages, it would have become very hard for us to provide the medicine and control the situation.”

• Dr. Devalkar, Medical Officer, Vashind PHC

Fig 1 & 2: Scabies identified among children during this quarter

Additionally, as a part of this project, state government-initiated Immunization Days or Aarogya Dins are celebrated regularly. Across the 12 villages every month children, pregnant and lactating women participate in this day. The goal of this day is to provide immunization to infants as well as pregnant women. Cumulatively 199 children have been immunized, 135 ANC and 127 PNC mothers attended the health days where their Hb levels, blood pressure are checked, immunization and supplemental medications such as intake of IFA and calcium are followed up with. Population First in collaboration with the healthcare service providers utilize this day to create awareness and provide information on immunization, nutrition, health, hygiene and most importantly on topics important for ante-natal and postnatal care. 

Fig 3 & 4: Health Camps with Dr. Kapadia

In this quarter, sessions on contraception were also introduced to the adolescent girls during the adolescent reproductive sexual health meetings. Learning about contraception is key for adolescent girls' understanding about their own bodies and also life choices. 

“I thank the PF team for giving me information on family planning and contraception. I can share this information with my sister-in-law. She was pregnant within the first year of her marriage and then again, was pregnant in her second year. I know it is very hard for her to manage two children. She was not aware about contraception and family planning methods. I was worried; I thought if the same would happen with me how would I manage. But today I understand the importance of family planning and contraception.”  

• Harshada Chandrakant Nicite from Walshet

It was through the adolescent girls that the team confirmed that during the pandemic, many women in the rural areas did not receive any information regarding contraception products and services. As a result of which, there was an increase in pregnancies in these villages. 

Fig 5&6: Hb testing of adolescent girls (left) & session on contraception (right) during ARSH meetings

On interacting with the women, it was identified that many women wanted to have a spacing between two children, but could not do so during the pandemic because of the lack of information and services for contraception. Therefore, it was important for PF to help address this information gap for the women in our project areas.  As a result, the PF team in the month of February focused on contraception and family planning. This session was conducted in 10 villages. Consequently, four women from Shei undertook the Copper T procedure. 

Fig 7: Meetings with pregnant and lactating mothers in Shei

A Success Story 

Under this project, ante-natal and postnatal care for the mothers was considered under two activities – a) training of family members in building an ecosystem for the new mothers and b) celebration of Arogya dins. It is during the celebration of Arogya dins, that pregnant and lactating mothers receive the right information regarding ANC & PNC care and also undergo check-ups from the PHC doctors. Sunita Vekhande*, was one such pregnant mother from Shei, who got herself registered in her fourth month of pregnancy. The PF team suggested that she get herself examined at the PHC. However, Sunita had gone for examination at the PHC in her sixth month only. During that examination it was identified that her Hb was 7 gms/dl. “I was a high-risk patient and was immediately asked to get admitted. But I returned back because I did not have enough funds for admission or for the injection,” Sunita said.

Fig 8: Sunita Vekhande, high-risk mothers

When she returned to the healthcare service providers, ASHA taai – Ranjana Tarmale and ANM Riddhi Bohir, ANM followed up with her. They used the funds available with ANM to take care of such high-risks cases, and got Sunita admitted. 

“The very next day, we took her to the doctor at the PHC once again and ensured that she started her Orofol medication. Through the week, we ensured that she received her injections and that she consumed the medicines that were provided to her,” ANM Riddhi said. Because of ANM and ASHA taai’s insistence and their dedicated efforts with Sunita, her Hb levels have now improved to 9 gms/dl. That is the kind of linkage PF team aimed to develop between the direct beneficiaries and the healthcare service providers which will ensure a stronger community for the future. 

 

Note: (*) indicates a change in name to protect their identity.