Reproductive and Child Health

In Uttarakhand, there has been limited provision of health services due to lack of infrastructure and shortage of qualified health personnel. Reaching out to the basic needs of the people, primary and secondary care services are being provided in difficult and hard to reach areas. Starting from the early 90s, services are being provided both through mobile vans as well as through satellite (fixed) clinics. Tertiary care services are provided through Himalayan Institute Hospital and these services are coupled with intensive Behavior Change Communication (BCC) to create awareness on issues of health and hygiene. Capacity building is undertaken at all levels for empowering the community and service providers. Also, all project interventions incorporate baseline and endline surveys to measure the impact of the project.

Focus areas of Health Care:

* Reproductive and Child Health
* School Health
* Adolescent Programs
* Alternate Systems of Medicine/Holistic Health

In the remote areas of the Himalayan foothills, harsh physical conditions and poverty leave the needs for essential health care largely unmet. Government facilities are few and far and it is difficult to find health care providers who are willing to serve people in such a remote and rough terrain.

Reproductive health surveys reveal that half of the girls between 15-19 years of age have experienced childbirth or pregnancy; 80% of all deliveries are done at home; 8% of the women are suffering from Reproductive Tract Infections and 44% of the women in the reproductive age group are anemic.

Since many villages are remote and hard to reach, RDI has been working simultaneously on increasing access to health services and mobilizing the communities. Trained women volunteers at village level go from house to house providing information about health, making referrals and delivering contraceptives in their communities. In many areas innovative mapping tools like the ELCO (Eligible Couple) maps are used which are pictorial descriptions of the reproductive health needs and practices of a community.

 

The various RCH initiatives undertaken include:

* Prenatal & Postnatal Care
    - Clinical care for pregnant women and young mothers
    - Antenatal care
    - Distribution of disposable Dai kits
* Immunizations

* Contraception awareness and counseling
    - Counseling of couples on family planning, spacing methods and the like
    - Provision with short-term methods of contraception like condoms, oral pills, copper T etc.
      and permanent methods like vasectomy or tubectomy.

* Nutrition and growth monitoring

* Screening and treatment of RTI & STD

* Limited curative care

* Health education and Behavior Change Communication

* Capacity building of volunteers and Training of Dais for safe delivery at home

* Strengthening community ownership through Health volunteer approach-involving
   community agencies throughout planning and implementation