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Reaching Villagers in Barmer with Life-Saving Information   
Jan. 27, 2009 – The villagers of Barmer, a western district of Rajasthan in India, know what it is to survive in a difficult environment. Approximately two million people live in 2,000 small villages scattered throughout the harsh terrain. The area is prone to drought and flash floods, which make development difficult and migration among its inhabitants common. These factors contribute to the poor health care status of the women and children of the region. Only four percent of women receive antenatal care, most women give birth at home rather than health care facilities, and 90 percent of the women and almost half of all children under six are malnourished. Reproductive health education is severely lacking in the region. A mere 28 percent of women have ever heard about HIV/AIDS and only 70 percent of those women are aware of safe sex as means of prevention. CEDPA/India recently put together a health fair, or mela, as part of the Child, Maternal and Reproductive Health Awareness Initiative (CMH) in Baytu, a village in northeast Barmer, to educate and inform area residents. The mela was a huge success. There was significant media coverage of the event, which included access to free health check-ups for the 4,000 villagers who attended. In addition, the government set up stalls to address issues such as education, HIV/AIDS and agriculture.
CEDPA/India’s country director, Dr. Bulbul Sood, spoke to the crowd about the activities being undertaken in the region by the initiative, which is funded by Cairns and the International Finance Corporation. She explained that CMH builds on existing health programs for HIV prevention but particularly focuses on women’s health in the community. The initiative’s objective is to improve the health status of women, children and adolescents in 32 villages in Barmer by increasing awareness of health issues and promoting the prevention of reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS transmission in the community. Because volunteers and community members are conducting outreach, capacity building is key to the initiative. Thus far, over 130 male community health volunteers, auxiliary nurse midwives, secondary school teachers, peer educators and youth facilitators have been armed with the tools to inform and educate their communities on reproductive health through various project activities. Activities include meetings, village health days, immunization drives, health camps, processions and health melas. Since the inception of the project and in addition to the 4,000 attendees at the health mela, more than 1,100 people have been counseled on safe motherhood, more than 800 children have been immunized against polio and 2,000 students participated in processions to disseminate information on health issues and events. Learn more about CEDPA’s work in India and reproductive health. |
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