Projects: Health

Hans Karuna Swasthya Pariyojna

Our discussion with organizations working on healthcare issues, brought to light the need to work on a neglected area - health issues of adolescent girls and women in slums and villages who crave for gynaecological support. We also realized that very few organizations were actually working in this field and even their involvement was limited to presentations, lectures and raising awareness.

The Hans Foundation decided to start three pilot projects in different states to tackle this problem, understand the nuances involved so as to be able to replicate this initiative in other regions. The team identified three organizations Sankalp Sankritik Samiti in Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Rural Development and Research Center in Rann of Kutch (Gujarat), Promotion of Awareness, Social Action and Research in Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh) and drew out intensive plans to lend a helping hand to the adolescent girls and women. After avid discussions with our partners, it was realized that the very first requirement for the target population was providing a qualified gynaecologist for their check ups and subsequent medicinal support. The health problems of the adolescent girls and ladies, was compounded due to not seeking timely help mainly because of the social stigma and other factors, which resulted in negligence and suffering.

The first step was to identify the ladies and adolescent girls and provide them with individual health record cards with detailed questions about their medical history (illnesses, sterilizations, etc). These cards would also be used to record results of their periodic check ups. Next we provided them with mobile hospitals (working out of ambulances) visiting their areas weekly as per schedule with lady gynaecologists, nurses and general medicines free of cost. Provisions were also made for field workers who would round up the ladies and adolescent girls at a chosen date and time of the checkups to ensure maximum participation and attendance. Besides this, once a month the lady gynaecologist gives the ladies a talk on hygiene and sanitation to make them aware of the problems that can be faced by them, which with the right amount of attention can in many cases be totally avoided. The “Dai’s” who are an integral part of the village support system were also roped in and have been trained to enhance their knowledge base in dealing with emergencies.

This initiative of ours has created a tremendous amount of goodwill. It has also brought many of these women and girls a visible sense of relief. The full impact of this initiative will only be visible in a few years and we hope its success can be replicated in other states as well.