Today, I had an opportunity to explore the Healthcare domain
with Channa. We met Dr. Kodanda Rao from Drishti Hospital at
Malleswaram. YFS, along with the hospitals, conducts various health camps like healthcare checkups, eye care camps, etc. The
eye screening camp is conducted at one of the Government schools at Malleswaram. Each
day, Dr Rao attend a camp in collaboration with the various hospitals, trusts
and NGOs. It was sad to see that the parents of the kids at Government school cannot afford basic medical facilities for their children. I
could see that the kids wait weeks and months hoping someone would come to
their help. However, their medication keeps postponing and yet, they were with a smile on their face. There is so much to learn from these kids. We
were asked to combine the camp with the Jain Helpline Trust who were conducting
a similar camp in a nearby school. Along with eye screening, the
medicine and spectacles were being provided free of cost. But then, we had to
give a second thought as the kids cannot be taken out of the school campus
without prior notice of the parents. We asked whether parents themselves can
take them to the camp and the teacher replies saying that it’s very difficult
to convince them.
I never even realized that such centers exist in a city. In Bengaluru, we have around 198 wards and each ward has one PHC where
the medical facilities are provided at the minimum cost to the people below poverty line (BPL). PHCs
are the basic first-line units providing primary health care. Theoretically,
there is one PHC for every 30,000 of population. Each PHC has five or six
sub-centers staffed by health workers for outreach services such as
immunization, basic curative care services, and maternal and child health
services. PHCs generally consist of one or more doctors, a pharmacist, a staff
nurse, and other paramedical support staff. In India, PHCs form a basic
part of the health care system. The Medical Officer appointed to run the PHC
must be an MBBS degree
holder. In addition to the provision of diagnostic and curative services, the
Medical Officer acts as the primary administrator for the PHC. The primary
field staff, who provide outreach services, are called "Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) or a village health nurse, depending upon the Indian state where the PHC is
located. The village health nurse provides service at the point of care, often
in the patient's home. If additional diagnostic testing or clinical
intervention is required, the patient is transported to the PHC to be evaluated
by the Medical Officer. Under the National Rural Health Mission, PHCs are
rapidly being upgraded.
YFS volunteers did a great job at Malleswaram PHC on
event of the pulse polio drive. The staff over there was overwhelmed with the
initiative taken by volunteers and by being of great help.
For the first time I have tried to know in detail about
Pulse Polio just heard it from the childhood but never knew it in details.
The polio vaccine protects children from polio or
poliomyelitis, which is a highly infectious viral disease spread through the
fecal-oral route of infected people. The polio virus enters through the mouth and ends up
in the nervous system. It can rapidly lead to paralysis and even death. India
is one of the four remaining countries that still have cases of polio. Polio is common in places with poor sanitation. Good hygiene is the key to reducing the risk of infection. You can protect your children by maintaining proper hygiene and giving them safe drinking water and hygienically prepared food.
Polio mainly affects children under the age of 5. Older people with lower immunity levels are also vulnerable. It is a common belief that polio afflicts only the lower socioeconomic group. That is not true: as long as there is one infected person, all children are at risk. There is no cure for polio. However, timely immunization is the most effective way of preventing the disease. Older siblings who are under 5 years of age must also be vaccinated in case they have missed the dosage. It is important to ensure that all children up to 5 years of age are given the Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) drops in addition to the routine polio vaccines given by the doctor as per the immunization schedule. This is the only way to ensure the child and the community are protected from polio. The vaccine has proven to be safe and is the most effective tool we currently have in preventing polio. A combination of OPV and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV) will put the fears to rest.
The Pulse Polio program is a government-led program which aims to eradicate polio from the country by vaccinating all children under the age of five, against polio. Every child is given OPV drops on special "Pulse Polio National Immunization Days".
This is yet another wonderful hospital. It conducts various camps at government schools and conduct a preliminary
screening of the eyes. People who are required to be treated further will be taken
to hospital and the treatment is done without or with minimal monetary charges (for people with weak socioeconomic background)
Government schools
The last part of the day was spent visiting 3 Government school and surprisingly, all the 3 schools were under one building at
Malleswaram. One school, an Urdu medium school, had some 20 kids in Classes 5, 6 and 7. The other two schools had classes up to 6th standard. It was heartening for me to see my colleague Channa, who had bought a bottle of medicine for two children. On handing it over to the teachers, he explained the dosage details. It surprised me as he had kept it on his mind, after his previous visit, that this kid needs medicine and the parents are not able to afford it. He followed up with the doctor and ensured that the medicine reaches the children. On the other hand, it was disappointing to learn these hard ground realities of the huge disparity in the patterns of earnings and spending that we see around us. He also asked the teacher to spot kids who needs special attention so that YFS volunteers
can be engaged to enhance their skills.
