Life Saving Treatment to Children in Rural India

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your continued support to our project 'Immunization for Tribal Children and Young Mothers'.

With your support we are about to begin a new year and are excited about the hopes and challenges it will bring. And at this yearend, we would like to share our progress report of this project from april to September 2013 so that you come to know how exactly YOUR support is creating real change. Below is the snapshot of the progress report:

Immunization camps are organized by Seva Mandir in 110 hamlets across the five blocks. During the reporting period, 633 camps were conducted against the target of 662 camps, which means 96 per cent of camps were held. This is an improvement over the 90 per cent in the last year (April – Sep 12). There is also a slight increase in the number of children receiving vaccination, against 610 children of the previous year, 686 children were immunized this year of which 375 were boys and 311 were girls. 337 children completed their immunization schedule of which 194 were boys and 143 were girls. 1451 children, of whom 804 boys and 647 girls, were given medicines for common illnesses in which the maximum number of children came with the complaint of diarrhea followed by skin infection and fever. The absence of nurses and problems in reaching the camp site during monsoons has been the major reason behind the cancellation of the camps.

The camps also registered 894 women for antenatal checkups against 905 women in last reporting period. Of these total registered women, 796 received one dose of tetanus toxoid vaccine and 697 women received both the doses. 362 women visited the camps for their third ante natal checkup which is indicative of a positive shift in the behavior of the women towards their personal health during pregnancy. The components of antenatal checkups included hemoglobin test, urine test, blood pressure measure and counseling on care during pregnancy.

We would also like to share with you a case study.

Savita Devi, a resident of Hasreta village in Kotra block was reluctant in getting her daughter Laxmi immunized as she believed the vaccines to be harmful which would lead to her child to become handicapped. The Bal Sakhi (Child Caretaker from Seva Mandir) Manju counseled her to visit the camp once where she would be able to interact with the mothers of her own age group. On visiting the camp, Savita Devi witnessed the ease with which the other children were getting the vaccination and also got an opportunity to hear about the positive personal experiences of the mothers. The women from Seva Mandir counseled Savita about the benefits of immunization and cleared her misconceptions regarding the vaccines which instilled confidence in her and she agreed to get her daughter immunized. Individual counseling by the nursing team and the community health workers is the backbone of the program as the women have a number of misconceptions regarding immunization due to which they neither get themselves or their children immunized which can pose a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of the pregnant women and children.

Once again thank you so much for your continued support.

Best wishes,

Atul Lekhra 

Links:

• Seva Mandir's official website