Most health related problems can be traced to other issues of rural development. Poverty; lack of income, overwork- and economic and social inequality are causes of ill health. This has an effect on women's development as well. Swanirvar is slowly working on these ills to ensure a success in all round development. Medical revolutions not only occur when effective cures for wide spread diseases are discovered - they also occur when already existing medicines and health care techniques become accessible to poor people living in remote villages.

Volunteers noticed that medical emergencies wreck rural families more than any other problems. Any illness that requires hospitalisation, (particularly if the patient has to be taken to Kolkata) can easily rob the family of its entire savings, or force them into lifelong debts.

The health care workers at Swanirvar are trying to emphasize on 'prevention is better than cure' policy to the villagers. They also teach the people how to combat initial medical emergencies at their homes. Health workers make regular home-visits to the villages to monitor expectant mothers and conduct immunization programs. Swanirvar is also trying to encourage 10-16 year-olds to do socially useful and productive things that enhance their learning process. For example, children are trained to go around the village, ask questions and conduct surveys about occurrence of diarrhoea, sanitary conditions, and the effectiveness of the common herbal medicines. Then the children themselves analyse the data collected, and draw up charts, with help from the workers.

Swanirvar's goals in Health related activities are to:

• decrease mortality, morbidity, disability, population growth, and imbalance in gender, &

• increase people's knowledge, practice and power leading to better physical and mental health.

It possible to combat diseases without having expensive 'proper' medical treatment. We have successfully experimented with community based health programmes. The key has been to raise awareness on health issues and help the rural poor to find cure to their own health problems. We also encourage them to grow medicinal plants so that they can get a cheap source of medicine.

Swanirvar has been working in the following areas:

• improving the sanitation of the village: work has been done to introduce smokeless chullahs in the kitchen, provide low cost toilets and spread general awareness regarding health issues,

• Mother and child work has been done related to immunization of pregnant women, provision of proper nutrition, provision of cure for STDs and Reproductive Tract infection, Antenatal care through regular visits, promotion of safe abortion, promotion of breast feeding, advises regarding birth certificates and other formalities,

• Promoting herbal medicine - aimed to provide an alternative to costly allopathic medicines. These herbal medicines can be grown in one's own backyard and are therefore extremely useful for the purpose of prevention of diseases and for speedy treatment,

• Promotion of health related issues through the organisation of blood donation camps, and

• Generating awareness and building capacity: this is achieved through constant training of health workers and spreading the message through the Kishore Kishori Bahini. However the primary thrust area is creating awareness among women and Swanirvar has started a programme for the promotion of health related issues through the Self Help Groups.

News Flash!

November 27, 2005

Ananda Bazar

Patrika

English Translation

(MS Word)

Bengali Op-Ed piece (PDF)

on SHIKSHAMITRA