Samta Foundation has adopted Palghar District, Maharashtra, to make it Family-planned, Malnutrition-free, Cataract-free and literate.
Family Planning
ACTIVITIES
- Awareness Camps
- Identifying Barriers
- Operation Theatres in Public Health Centres
- Medicines and Operation Material provided
- Transport for Needy Patients
- Food and Stay Facilities to Patients in Co-ordination with Hospitals
- Awareness Drives through ASHA workers (Accredited Social Health Activist trained to interface between the community and the public health system)
- Incentives for ASHAs
IMPACT*
- 15,808 surgeries (with over 8000 surgeries in this year alone)
- Increased access and uptake of surgical family planning
- Families encourage women to get operated
- Building trust by guaranteed free treatment
- Unwanted pregnancies decreased
- Antenatal care registrations decreased
- Families stop at two children and are educated against having too many children
*Till March 2023
Process
BACKGROUND
- Dr. Mahale (gynaecologist) at the Sub-district Hospital in Jawhar lauded the Cataract Care Initiative of the Foundation
- He said that corrective action was needed at the root cause, viz. malnutrition – which in turn was linked to higher fertility rate in this region
IMPLEMENTATION
- Samta Foundation started family planning operations with the same format as cataract surgeries
- It identified barriers to family planning or sterilisation surgeries: limited access, poor awareness, lack of infrastructure in government hospitals such as dysfunctional operation theatres in PHCs, and distrust in service quality
- Team effort in coordination with ASHA workers and medical officers
SUSTENANCE
- Dysfunctional operation theatres in PHCs repaired by providing one-time aid – making them more accessible to villagers and reducing burden on central facilities
- Providing medicines and operation material in hospitals to cover surgeries beyond basic targets or as per demand submitted from the hospital
- Providing transport for needy patients to and from their village to the operating hospital, also food and stay facilities to patients in coordination with the hospitals
- Awareness of women through ASHA workers, and incentives for ASHA workers
Malnutrition
ACTIVITIES
- Mother and Child Care Camps
- Healthcare Counselling
- Supplementary Nutrition to Mothers and Children
IMPACT & RESULTS*
- 16,808 beneficiaries
- Started with 5 centres with 700 mothers and 866 children registered
- Reduction in children with severe and moderate acute malnutrition (SAM / MAM)
- Reduction in stunting and wasting of children
- Fall in number of babies born with low birth weight are visible already
- Sharp fall in infant mortality
*Till March 2023
Process
BACKGROUND
- Families wanted more children due to high child mortality
- Increased susceptibility of the region’s children to diseases such as pneumonia, gastroenteritis, etc.
- The need was to start addressing malnutrition through a Mother and Child care program
IMPLEMENTATION
- Preventive healthcare counseling is done at Mother and Child Care Camps
- In collaboration with existing Government set-ups wherever possible, such as hospitals
- Foundation spent primarily on transport facilities, medicines and honorariums for Government staff
SUSTENANCE
- Existing Health and Women & Child Development functionaries are used to identify pregnant women and undernourished children, brought to the camps in vehicles provided by the Foundation
- Samta Foundation conducts nutrition check-up and referral services at sub-centre level in all blocks of Palghar district
- Continue with building awareness and counseling
- Build the capacity of the existing primary health system
Our Operations
The Family planning surgeries and Mother and Child Care activities were launched in Palghar, and have proven to be a successful model. They are now ready to be scaled up to other tribal regions in the state. The ASHA workers are thoroughly trained and interact closely with the Government system. As our hands and legs at the village level, they will be a crucial link to make change possible across Palghar and beyond.
Cataract eradication and computer literacy are other initiatives that are fully implemented with great success across Palghar district.
- 2013
Family Planning Activity Started - 2017
Malnutrition Activity Started - 2012
Cataract Activity Started
* Till March 2019
Success Story
Making of a Revolution
Stories of Real Change
Swachhata Abhiyan: Story of Risod
Joining hands with the community and city council for a series of initiatives helped build a Clean & Green Risod
Nashik Prison: Success Story
Making inroads to provide healthcare and wellness for prisoners, bailing deserving inmates: an exemplary story
Janu’s story: Cataract Cure
As the elderly man’s eyesight worsened, a specialised Cataract Surgery gave him more than the ability to see
Our Initiatives
Community Services
We create sanitation awareness and provide meals and shelter to patients from rural areas visiting hospitals in cities
Healthcare
We collaborate with Government bodies to reach help in rural and tribal areas, where it is needed the most
