Health Camps for Children in Rural India

The second wave of COVID in India and its national lockdown continues to pose challenges to organize health camps for the children in our target area, but we have pivoted to providing crucial resources to provide COVID relief that has not been delivered to the rural villages of India.

In order to best manage the continued health of rural children and their families in India during COVID, we have:

• Secured 449,000 Rapid COVID Tests to be used at COVID care centers and hospitals to ensure that even rural children and their families can get tested for COVID-19;
• Implemented six COVID Isolation and Relief Centers, and working towards and additional four, to allow families with COVID positive members to safely isolate. Each isolation and relief center is equipped with beds, food, medical supplies, PPE, rapid testing, sanitary napkins, medical screenings, and comfort for isolation for pre-critical stage patients; started distributing COVID medical kits (thermometers, sanitizer, oximeter, PPE kits, and vitamins) to allow rural families to monitor and care for their families at home, keeping children protected as best as possible until they can be vaccinated;
• Started distributing family hygiene kits to keep those isolated at home, especially children, safe;
• Begun supplying Food Rations for families that provide enough sustenance for one month, to keep healthy family members home and safe without having to go out for food; and
• Launched our telehealth platform, so people, especially in the rural communities, can seek medical advice from the safety of their own home.

 Our Health Camps will continue later on in the year, and will be even more important as we work to keep the vulnerable, often overlooked, rural communities and children healthy.

Links:

• Desai Foundation COVID Response

The global pandemic and national lockdown in India made it difficult for us to organise health camps for the beautiful children in our target area, but it did not stop us from  providing them with necessary health benefits. We worked hard with our local partners and distributed over 700 dental hygiene kits in 3 large districts of Gujarat, India. The dental kits consisted of tooth-brush, toothpaste, a tongue cleaner, and a dental hygiene booklet. Along with the kit, they are provided with two adjustable cloth face masks and soap to wash them. These health kits are equipping children with the high quality resources they need to manage their dental and personal hygiene during the pandemic. In the next few months, we plan to expand this successful initiative to our targeted states in India.

Links:

• http://thedesaifoundation.org