Salaam Baalak Trust - working for street children

Introduction and Goal

Since its inception, SBT has been striving to provide comprehensive care and protection services to street and working children. This package of services includes residential facilities, health and nutrition, education, vocational training and rehabilitation services. A critical component of this package remains medical and health facilities. It has been seen that children on streets live in insanitary conditions and are prone to various infections and diseases, therefore providing them adequate medical facilities is often the first priority for SBT team. In an endeavour to ensure effective delivery of medical services, SBT has envisioned a multifaceted medical programme. 

Under the medical programme, SBT covers the following two pronged objectives.

1. To improve access to adequate and timely medical services of children rescued / and or motivated to live in shelter homes.
2. To strengthen medical and health programme to ensure maximum quality health care.

Project Goal

The present project supports the medical programme activities at Aasra Residential Centre of SBT. From the valuable grants under the Project salaries of medical social worker and medical programme implementation has been supported at Aasra. The Centre is located in Najafgarh area of Delhi and provides shelter and other services to about 50 boys at any given point of time.

 Activities

It has been SBT’s long standing principle that quality medical aid must be provided to every child. As good health is foundation on which a stable and happy future can be built. Under this ambit, first aid and a medical check up is provided within 24 hrs of coming in touch with SBT.  When a child comes in to touch with SBT with any major medical problem, she/ he is referred to hospital immediately, prescribed care is provided and regular follow up is done. With the support, street children residing Aasra Residential Centre of Salaam Baalak Trust were direct beneficiaries to the medical programme. (For details see Table 1)

Awareness Session on Dental Health at Aasra Centre

As part of the medical programme following activities have been conducted:

• First Aid care was provided to children who came with an injury to the Centre.
• Regular health check-ups of regular children staying at the centre for long stay were conducted.
• Awareness sessions were conducted by the medical social workers to sensitize children on issues of health, hygiene, and sanitation.
• Medicines were provided to children suffering from illness and sickness.
• Those children who were diagnosed from a major illness were provided specialised medical care through hospitals.
• Heath camps were organised to provide routine immunization to children to protect them from preventable childhood diseases.

Dental Check-up at the Centre

Snapshot of Progress Achievements and Targets  

The number of children reached under various components of medical programme at Aasra Centre is provided below.

Table 1: Medical Programme Coverage and Outreach

Activities

Number of Beneficiaries

Remarks

Total Beneficiaries

50

T.T Vaccine  (1 Camp)

25

Dental (1 Camp)

29

Eye check up

9

Medical Investigation

5

Surgery

2

(Eye & leg)

Long term Care

3

(Kidney disorder & HIV Positive infection)

Hospital Referrals

Medicine Department

16

ENT Department

6

Skin Department

4

Surgery Department

5

Future Plan

This year the medical team plans to forge stronger partnership with hospitals to ensure high quality care to children. Additionally, the team will make necessary efforts to organise capacity building sessions for medical staff throughout the year.