Reduce Infant & Maternal Mortality in the Himalaya

SECOND REPORT FOR GLOBAL GIVING: AAROHI’S HEALTH EFFORTS JAN – JUN 2012

18 Oct 2012

Since the month of April 2012 when Aarohi's project to “Reduce Infant and Maternal Mortality in the Himalaya” was posted on Global Giving's website, people from all walks of life have found it in their hearts to contribute. These contributions have had an incredibly positive impact on the project, benefiting and supporting whole communities through Aarohi's Mother and Child health program.

This second report aims to put six months of work from January to June 2012 into perspective. Future reports, will become quarterly.

Located in the Kumaon Himalyas of Uttarakhand, India,  Aarohi’s project serves a population of approximately 12,500. Funds raised on the Global Giving website have enabled Aarohi to offer extensive community-based training to Traditional Birth Attendants and local Health Workers.

In Feb 2010 Aarohi’s health program received a major Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) grant for strengthening its model community based health care delivery system, which aims to reduce maternal and child mortality. The project focuses in on training village health workers and midwives, increasing community awareness about their health needs and rights, and improving access to affordable and ethical health care. The project covers around 14,000 people in 30 extremely remote villages in Nainital district.

A detail of patient care is reflected below:

TOTAL PATIENTS BENEFITED:                                  1914

TOTAL VILLAGES COVERED :                                       45

SPECIALIST CAMPS HELD                                             7  

PATIENTS TREATED IN SPECIALIST CAMPS             638              

TOTAL SURGERIES DONE                                           46     

TOTAL ULTRASOUNDS DONE                                     136

DENTAL CAMPS HELD                                                   6        

TOTAL DENTAL PATIENTS TREATED                         230                

MOBILE HEALTH CAMPS IN REMOTE VILLAGES           5      

PATIENTS TREATED IN MOBILE HEALTH CMPS          83      

NO. OF CHILDREN DEWORMED AND GIVEN VIT A

    SUPPLEMENTS IN MOBILE HEALTH CAMPS           356

Funds from Global Giving, co-supported by the SDTT enabled 7 specialist health camps in Satoli. 638 patients were treated and 136 ultrasound investigations done during these camps with the help of visiting volunteer doctors. A further 230 patients were treated for dental problems in 6 dental camps. 46 surgical procedures including cholecystectomies, hysterectomies and reconstructive surgeries for post burns contractures and developmental defects like cleft lip and palate were conducted.

Medical trends noticed during the mobile health camps check-ups showed an alarming number of children complaining of headaches despite good vision. When questioned, the students claimed that their family members were also suffering from headaches. The medical team speculated that this might be a result of chronic smoke inhalation so common in rural homes that cook with traditional open fire stoves. Many children in Juni’s Secondary School as well as Jatoli’s Primary School were found to be Anaemic.

MOBILE HEALTH CAMPS

In April 2012, Aarohi took 18 volunteers to 7 of the Central Himalayas most remote villages in the Pindari river basin. The group was a diverse one, consisting of doctors, paramedics, a dental surgeon, a teacher, a filmmaker, photographers, an economist, a professor, a businessman, and a handful of fellows from ICICI and AIF foundations, respectively.

The objective was to bring modern healthcare and educational exposure to these isolated communities, many of which are a day’s walk or more from the nearest road head, and many of which have never been visited by a doctor. In most of these villages there  also no teachers in the Government schools.

All medical and educational camps were held at local government schools.