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Diseases in low-and middle-income nations causing deaths

Diseases in low-and middle-income nations causing deaths

Over a million premature deaths in low-and middle-income nations occur every year due to causes and diseases that can be either easily treated or prevented from becoming life threatening in the first place.

 

With ever advancing technology and breakthrough in medical field, quality healthcare is becoming more accessible and affordable for people with average and above average resources. The poorest, however, are still the worst affected in the struggle to get their hands on basic, get lifesaving healthcare. The problem is even more dive for people living remote regions, especially, the population of tribal and indigenous group.

 

The most common and top ten causes and diseases, that claim the lines of people in countries like India where an estimated 20% of population survives on barely a dollar or lesser a day, are usually the ones that easily preventable and treatable before it turns fatal. As per WHO 2018, the top 10 reasons for high deaths in lower and middle income countries are –

 

  • Ischemic Heart disease
  • Stroke
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Lower respiratory infections
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Tuberculosis
  • Diarrhea
  • Diabetes
  • Childbirth and pregnancy related complications,
  • Road injury

 

Except deaths due to road injury (which can be reduced with safer driving measures in place), all of the above diseases are now preventable, treatable or treatable to the extent that one can lead a long and healthy life. Forming a large part of reasons for annual deaths, non-communicable diseases are easily preventable from becoming life threatening in a later, more advanced stage through awareness and regular access to necessary medications and consultations.

 

Excessive consumption of tobacco and low quality alcohol with lack of physical activity and proper nutrition are among the primary reasons why a large part of population is affected by these non-communicable diseases like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. If diagnosed on time and provided with proper consultation on how to live with a chronic disease, a lot of lives can be effectively saved.

 

As per a study in National Center for Biotechnology Information  (NCBI), 40% of all hospital stays are accounted by NCDs in India which also cause 53% of deaths and over 44% of disabilities in people in the country. The lack of awareness among the masses and access to timely necessary as well as affordable treatment in the country for these chronic diseases are the primary burden when it comes to noncommunicable diseases.

 

Treatment for once fatal tuberculosis has now been around for more than a decade and yet thousands of people in lower economic strata of the society lose their lives to this disease. The treatment for the same is also easily and affordably available in most government hospitals around the country. However, a lack of awareness and timely access to the necessary resources and also the location of most hospitals being in the cities, results in a lot people not being able to access the medicine on time as well as for the duration of treatment.

 

Deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth related complications occur is largely due to preventable and treatable causes made up of – severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth), infections (usually after childbirth), high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia), complications from delivery and unsafe abortions (as per World Health Organization). These four fold complications arising during and after pregnancy arise out of a the lack of prenatal and postnatal care that women require to maintain their health and that of their babies.

 

Smile on Wheels sensitises people on curable diseases

 

Smile Foundation has been on the forefront to bring healthcare to all through intervention and awareness under its health vertical, Smile on Wheels. With a focus on prevention, Smile on Wheels’ healthcare worker conduct health awareness sessions to educate people about non communicable diseases and the importance of maintain a healthy lifestyle with nutritious diet and adequate physical activity.

 

While most of the diseases can be prevented through early intervention and detection, awareness around safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth still remain under addressed, largely among the rural and remote areas of the country. Smile Foundation under its women empowerment vertical, Swabhiman and healthcare program of Smile on Wheels, spreads awareness on reproductive and maternal health among underprivileged communities in urban slums and rural villages.In addition to encouraging healthcare seeking behaviour among young girls of reproductive age, pregnant women and new mothers, Smile On Wheels keeps a record of pregnant women and new mothers through Anganwadi workers to bring essential services for ANC and PNC for these women.

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In The Spotlight

Importance of prenatal and postnatal care

women empowerment NGO
women empowerment NGO

For most women, becoming a mother and holding the newborn baby is among the happiest moment of their lives. It is right and happiness that every woman wishing to be a mother is entitled to. However, for many pregnant women this does not come true and at times even results in worst of the scenarios. Every day as many as 800 women die due to complications arising out of pregnancy (as per UNICEF) and uncountable many lose their baby.  In India, a woman dies every 20 minutes due to pregnancy or during childbirth, as per the World Health Organization. The major cause of this is insufficient and poor prenatal and postnatal care and the lack of awareness around the needs of women during pregnancy.

 

The high number of maternal and infant mortality is largely due to preventable and treatable causes made up of – severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth), infections (usually after childbirth), high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia), complications from delivery and unsafe abortions (as per World Health Organization). These fourfold complications arising during and after pregnancy arise out of the lack of prenatal and postnatal care that women require to maintain their health and that of their babies.

 

Pregnancy during Adolescence

 

The journey to safe and healthy a mother and child begins with educating adolescent girls about their bodies and encouraging them to make decisions about their bodies and health. Pregnancy and childbirth require a physically and mentally prepared woman, capable of handling the changes brought on in the process and proper prenatal and postnatal care. Globally, mortality is high among girls between the age of 15-19 years whose bodies are still growing and changing and who are put through the trauma and complications of pregnancy. As per a UNICEF report, as many as 100 in 1000 adolescent girls between 15-19 years go through pregnancy in India, as of 2018. The physical and psychological burden of pregnancy and childbirth can significantly weaken a girl’s young body leaving her vulnerable to risk in future pregnancies.

 

Maternal Healthcare

 

Every pregnant woman needs access to prenatal and postnatal care to ensure her and her baby’s health and welfare. As per WHO, every woman who is pregnant must have at least four prenatal attendance and have access to iron and folic acid supplements for at least 100 days alongside two tetanus shots and vitamins and calcium to maintain her physical health and prepare her body for childbirth. Prenatal visits provide the opportunity to detect and possibly prevent adverse birth events. However, only 21% utilize or get access to all four ANC visits and barely 30% take IFA for the minimum stated period. Low iron can lead to anemia which can be possibly life-threatening to both mother and child.

 

After childbirth, a woman’s body suffers from low levels of iron and calcium. For a speedy recovery, postnatal care includes access to iron, calcium, vitamin-enriched diets as well as supplements. These are necessary not just for the mother but also for the child who derives its nourishment entirely from the mother.

 

Most women in the country, especially in rural regions, find themselves at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving both ANC and PNC attention. Lack of primary healthcare centers and awareness among family members about the need of a pregnant woman with the rigorous lifestyle most women lead on an everyday basis puts them at high risk of not just miscarriages but also death.

 

prenatal and postnatal care during pregnancy

 

Access to Safe Delivery and Emergency Care

 

To ensure a safe delivery, it is advised to have a skilled provider such as doctor, nurse, or midwife around to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. India has achieved a significant feat where more than 81% of the deliveries take place in the presence of a skilled provider, thereby actively bringing down the mortality rate of mother and baby.

 

There, however, still remains a lack of emergency care such as cesarean section, or C-section which can be lifesaving interventions in case of a breech birth or some other serious complication, specifically in rural regions where hospitals and healthcare centers are not easily reachable.

 

Beginning for healthier and safer childbirth starts with awareness among girls and their families. In lieu of the same, Smile foundation under its women empowerment vertical, Swabhiman and healthcare program a Smile on Wheels, spreads awareness on reproductive and maternal health among underprivileged communities in urban slums and rural villages.

 

In addition to encouraging healthcare-seeking behavior among young girls of reproductive age, pregnant women and new mothers, Smile On Wheels keep a record of pregnant women and new mothers through Anganwadi workers to bring essential services for ANC and PNC for these women.

 

Without being healthy herself, a mother cannot completely provide her child with the adequate nourishment that an infant needs, and only with active attention, awareness, and invention can the world home come closer to reaching zero material and newborn mortality late.

 

To support the healthcare of women click https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/

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In The Spotlight

Healthcare for all: Reaching the unreachable

Healthcare for all: Reaching the unreachable

Healthcare is among the most important and most difficult to reach for by the people with no homes and no identities. As of 2020, approx. a billion people are displaced, out which 763 million are internally displaced. Most of these people do not have any documents relevant to seek essential services which are their human rights and that prevents them from getting access to their needs.

 

85 % of the total displaced people, both domestic and international, are being hosted by developing nations. The health infrastructure of these nations is too weak to serve the needs of these people looking for a home and support in an alien place. Another group of people that are worst affected are the ones living in remote locations, the tribal and’ indigenous population. Such regions, though sparsely populated, do not generally have hospitals or a primary healthcare facility.

 

The population living in these vulnerable conditions and remote regions face severely poor socioeconomic conditions due to unemployment and/or isolation which also puts them on a back foot when it comes to accessing healthcare.

 

Living with poor sanitation and contaminated water with limited to no availability of nutritious food, they are also at an increased risk to a range of bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, as well as disease that can be easily prevented by vaccines. Another major factors that make it difficult for people displaced from their homes can be of this legal status in the host region, a language barriers and discrimination.

 

Among these people, the most vulnerable are women, children and people with disabilities. The social and environmental impact of the changes they face elevates the health issues faced by them.

 

Healthcare for children

 

In remote regions, the situation becomes critical due to the additional problems arising as a result of the lack of knowledge and awareness on the means to maintain good health, reduce preventable diseases and seek medical attention time. Even when people know when to seek medical attention, the non-functioning primary healthcare centres and non-availability of hospitals and doctors increases the rate of mortality among the population of people living in remote areas of the country.

 

Individuals and experts around the world seek to change the prevailing situation of weak healthcare facilities that are available for people in vulnerable situations and remote locations. With the advancement of technology, bringing quality healthcare to people around the world is becoming more and more easy. Among others, the most efficient and fruitful support is tele consultation and tele-medicine. With a rise in the use of smartphones and wide spread connectivity of the internet, providing medical assistance from healthcare experts to people living in remote regions is the way to go forward.

 

Most of the people in the challenging situations and locations are healthy, they do not suffer from chronic or deadly diseases, what they require is easy access to primary healthcare and regular awareness sessions on maintaining good health to avoid a health problem from becoming severe and possibly deadly. Teleconsultation can prove to be life-saving by helping in diagnosing a disease in its initial stage, for example, a common cold can be prevented from turning into pneumonia and more challenging to treat, if easy access to a doctor is available.

 

In regions, where people cannot reach or cannot afford to reach out for medical assistance, the same can be brought to them. By addressing, the primary and basic healthcare needs of the people surviving through social, environmental and economic challenges, the problem can be effectively removed before it turns into something far more severe.

Smile Foundation recognizes the above and under its healthcare vertical, Smile on Wheels, runs primary healthcare service vans that offers free quality medical assistances to underprivileged people at their doorstep in India. With regular consultation and a meticulously maintained health record of its beneficiaries, Smile on Wheels is able to address the primary and prevalent health needs of majority of the people they serve.

 

Healthcare through tele counselling

 

Teleconsultation and telemedicine is also a part of its program, where the doctors and health experts, connect with people through video and audio calls and address their healthcare needs when and where in person consultation is not possible. This has had a positive effect in terms of addressing the mental health problems of stress and anxiety arising due to difficult circumstances while the world learned to live with a pandemic.

 

Healthcare is a human right and every person should have easy access to means to maintaining a healthy body and mind. The world needs more innovations and implementation of services that bring quality healthcare to people without location or situation becoming unmovable hurdles in the path of it.

 

To help the most underprivileged support https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/

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Delayed immunization = bigger health crises

Delayed immunization = bigger health crises

We still continue to fight the global pandemic that has entrapped the social, mental and physical well-being of the people. India recently crossed the mark of 8 lakh people who have tested positive for corona virus, with approximately 2.9 lakh active cases. According to the early notifications issued by the World Health Organization regarding Covid-19 worldwide spread, the virus was reported to affect the babies, older people and people with prior chronic medical conditions the most. However, with all the major and minor healthcare resources being directed towards curing the virus-affected patients, the basic medical facilities like vaccinations and immunization have been halted temporarily, either partially or fully.

 

Immunization is a core essential health service, especially for children below the age of 5 years. Primary immunization in a child’s life should not be delayed as it protects against diseases including pneumonia, diarrhea, meningitis, whooping cough and measles. In its guidelines, WHO has suggested that “During an epidemic, even a temporary interruption of basic health-care delivery such as routine vaccination/immunization services may lead to secondary health crises such as measles outbreaks during or after the recovery phase, amplifying the economic damage of the epidemic and exacerbating morbidity and mortality”.

 

The routine vaccination and immunization programs have been highly compromised due to various reasons during the corona crisis. Most common reason includes shutting down of these services or shifting of the immunization facility to support the Covid-19 patients. The other reason is the fear induced in the parents to take their children out for these services at such facilities with patients who are already fighting the corona virus. Disruption of continuity of these services may lead to major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases that could be catastrophic for the communities and health systems of nations which are already battling the impacts of Covid-19.

 

importance of vaccination and immunization

 

While the countries globally accelerate the struggle of developing a vaccine against this new pandemic spread, it must ensure to protect its people against those diseases for which vaccines already exist. According to UNICEF, over 117 million children in 37 countries have missed out on receiving the measles vaccination over the past month. Some 26 countries have postponed their measles immunization campaigns to prevent a further spread of COVID-19 will join them in the coming weeks. In India, a majority of immunization services are provided by community-outreach facilities and due to the nationwide lockdown, these services have been shut down. The government needs to come up with strategic and timely decisions to tackle the shortage of health care workers and facilities, in case it plans to further extend the lockdown services. All the children who have missed their vaccinations as a result of the lockdown need to be listed and a systematic process needs to be maintained to follow up with their timely vaccinations further. A failure to act now will open up space for more and deadlier epidemics in the coming months.

 

Visit https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/ to read about how Smile Foundation is spreading awareness about and ensuring access of primary healthcare services, with special attention to children and mothers, through its healthcare programme.

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Non communicable diseases cause of over 85% premature deaths

Non communicable diseases cause of over 85% premature deaths

Healthcare and the availability of it for all. The world has come face to face with a situation it was not prepared for, bringing the focus of every person on globe on one thing – the state and quality of healthcare and measures being taken for effective treatment of the ailing. With a pandemic clouding all discussion on the topic of healthcare, a lot of prominent and prevalent problems have taken a backseat. One of them being of non communicable diseases which claim tens of millions of lives each year globally. The world is set lose over $7 trillion economically between 2011-2025 due to non communicable diseases not being given the attention they require.

 

The classic idea of health problems in the low- and middle-income countries is that of the prevalence of diseases due to infections and parasites. Chronic diseases like heart attacks, strokes, cancers, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and more claim as many as 41 million lives every year, making up for 71% of the total deaths globally, as per the World Health Organization. Out of this, 15 million deaths are premature, happening to people between the ages of 30-69 years. The worldview is that non communicable disease or NCDs affect and cause deaths of people, primarily, in the west. WHO, however, stats that more than three quarters, approximating 85% of deaths due to NCDs occur in the low- and middle-income countries.

 

The types of non communicable diseases is categorized into four areas – cardiovascular, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. Excessive consumption of tobacco and low quality alcohol with lack of physical activity and proper nutrition in poor nations put the poorest population of the nations around the world most at risk. The situation has reached India at a drastic pace and situation is such that the NCDs in India and other such low income countries can no longer be ignored.

 

As per a study in National Center for Biotechnology Information  (NCBI), 40% of all hospital stays are accounted by NCDs in India which also cause 53% of deaths and over 44% of disabilities in people in the country. By 2030, the country will lose more than $450 billion and 17.9 million years of productivity, pushing the people into further poverty in the country that homes 20% of the world’s poorest. The lack of awareness among the masses and access to timely necessary as well as affordable treatment in the country for these chronic diseases are the primary burden when it comes to noncommunicable diseases.

 

 

What is needed is a free flow of awareness and a strong partnership between government and civil society to address the NCDs in India along with their risk factors to ensure prevention of premature deaths caused due to NCDs in a cost effective way. Most of the types of non communicable diseases are manageable, if proper treatment and guidance to leading a healthier life with them is provided to the patients.

 

Strengthening the health system with an emphasis on primary healthcare; creating and strengthening the national surveillance systems for NCDs; investing and implementing cost effective interventions; mobilizing resources on health promotion that focuses on prevention, early detection, alongside curative, rehabilitative, and palliative cares; and training the health workforce of the nation can significantly bring down the number of premature deaths due to chronic diseases.

 

WHO says that if the world manages to achieve 25% reduction in deaths due to NCDs by 2025, then as many as 37 million lives can be saved.

 

 

Smile Foundation has been on the forefront of fighting these non communicable diseases through intervention and awareness under its health vertical, Smile on Wheels. With a focus on prevention, Smile on Wheels’ healthcare worker conduct health awareness sessions to educate people about non communicable diseases and the importance of maintain a healthy lifestyle with nutritious diet and adequate physical activity. Health camps are conducted to facilitate the early detection of the signs of NCDs and any person living with diabetes and hypertension, which can lead to cardiovascular diseases, is provided with regular free consultations and medicines to help them lead a healthy life even with the chronic disease.

 

The poorest are the worst affected due to any crisis, be it lingering or abrupt. Smile Foundation aims to lessen the burden of underprivileged of the society by bringing quality healthcare to their doorstep for free. Smile on Wheels is dedicated to help and contribute towards a healthier nation where no premature deaths happen due to preventable causes. To read more about our efforts, https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/smile_on_wheels.html

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In The Spotlight

Response & recovery mechanisms, awareness to control pandemic

Response & recovery mechanisms, awareness to control pandemic

With Unlock 2.0 having come into effect from 1st July, it has become imperative for the government of India to formulate necessary regulations to put the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic under control. As per the statistics, there still remain a total of 244814 active cases of Covid-19 as of 5th July, with the metro cities of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi consistently leading the charts with the highest number of positive cases being tested on a daily basis. The number of deaths across nation due to the virus totaled up to 19268. Currently India has the third highest number of confirmed cases, overtaking Russia, in the world, after USA and Brazil.

 

After several extensions of the lockdown, the government started easing restrictions by dividing districts into red, orange and green zones. Red zones are designated as the hotspots and will not see any relaxations until 31st July, in comparison to the areas considered less prone to the spread of the virus.The central government’s decisive actions – in announcing timely ban on travel, sealing of borders and a near complete lockdown has resulted in relatively low infections and casualties in India, given its population density. It has also allowed the state health departments to get their health infrastructure, human resources and medical supplies in place to handle the expected surge in cases.As per the public records, there has been a consistent increase in the number of tests being conducted regularly, reaching 248934 on July 5th and indicated to be ramping up to 5 lakhs a day by the Centre soon. The ever increasing rapid/community testing has also been advocated as a strong means for phasing out the spread of infection along with the private sector offering drive through and home sample collection services.Also, with the constant efforts of the health industry in the country, 409082 cases were reported recovered from the disease. The state governments have also been constantly mobilizing the necessary supplies of PPE kits, hand sanitizers, masks and ventilators for the people along with conversion of public facilities to quarantine centers. Arogya Setu at the national level, Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 Quarantine Monitor, Maharashtra’s MahaKavach, Delhi’s plasma bank, chatbots in 24X7 command and call centers are among many solutions deployed.

 

 

India, a leading manufacturer of vaccines and generic medicines, is expected to play a key role in the race for developing a vaccine against Covid-19. Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and Cadila Healthcare Ltd. have got an approval from the Drugs Controller General of India for human clinical trials for their indigenously developed vaccine candidates, Covaxin and ZyCov-D respectively, against Sars-Cov-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease.These two are among 11 out of 140 vaccines that have been approved for human trials in the world. However, this does not put a stop to the pandemic crisis and should be visualized only as a positive sign towards the recovery direction. Response and recovery plans still need to be more dynamic like the pandemic. A balance needs to be struck between opening up and managing the risk with strong guidelines, communication, surveillance, monitoring and preparedness, because clearly the virus does not seem to be leaving in a hurry and the nation needs to fight it.

 

It is equally important with Unlock 2.0 that awareness and preparedness be built into the public about handling the virus so that its spread can be controlled, particularly among the more vulnerable populations living in crowded urban slums with the bare minimum sanitation practices. Smile Foundation is continuously working towards creating awareness among the grassroots communities about precautions and preventive methods that should be adopted to keep children and families safe from the pandemic. To read more about our efforts, visit https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/ 

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Health Cannot Wait: Prioritizing Primary Healthcare

Health Cannot Wait: Prioritizing Primary Healthcare

Acouple of years ago, the world had been shocked to see Odisha’s Dana Majhi carry his daughter’s dead body 8 km on foot to reach the nearest primary healthcare centre. Today, in the face of COVID-19, as lakhs of migrant labourers working in various cities of India compromised their safety and took to the roads to return to their villages, the question remains – will the poor always have to choose between hunger and healthcare, are some lives cheaper than the others?

 

As the world faces one of the worst health & heathcare crises of recent times in the form of COVID-19, once again the paramount importance of health has become front and centre. And yet again, the socio-economically marginalized are the worst sufferers. Whereas well-heeled Indians seem to be basking in a long holiday under the lockdown, the poor are in a state of unemployment and hunger, having lost their dignity, and in utter despair.

 

In the Covidian world, it has become glaringly obvious – Health Cannot Wait!

 

Healthcare in India

 

If we Google the term, ‘healthcare in India’, we would get around 80,40,00,000 results in 0.69 seconds. But when a person with limited means and at the highest risk to succumb to disease goes out to seek medical attention, he/she would find abysmally low choices. Either the person would have to sacrifice a day’s wage for a visit to the doctor or continue to live with the sickness and rely on fate. This is the unfortunate truth of our country – the ones who are in need of healthcare services the most are the last to receive them.

 

 

The overall healthcare scenario of the general population of India is a sad one. According to The Lancet, a global health indicator index, India ranks at 154 in a list of 188 countries. A staggering 70% of the population still lives in rural areas and has limited or no access to healthcare services or even a primary healthcare centre. The doctor-population ratio in India is 1:1456 against the WHO recommendation of 1:1000 (The Economic Survey of India 2019-20). On average, a government doctor attends to 11,082 people (Directorate of State Health Services and NHP, 2018), more than 10 times than what the WHO recommends. The country has the third-highest child mortality rate among SAARC countries with an average life expectancy of 69.4, which gives India a World Life Expectancy ranking of 130 (UNDP 2018). Our public health spending, at just about 1.3 percent of the GDP is among the bottom 24 countries globally. The out-of-pocket expenditure continues to be about three-fourth of the total health expenditure, which disproportionately burdens the poor.  

 

Way Forward: Public Health

 

Everyone everywhere is susceptible to infection and to illness. And the only way forward is together. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to learn the harder way, why what ails one – ails us all. An individual’s health security is interdependent on everyone else. And yet so many in our country are living in conditions that make them more vulnerable to ill health including over-crowded living spaces, poor sanitation as well as lack of awareness. As such, focus and investment on public health has become the need of the hour – viewing health as much more than simply not being ill at an individual level. 

 

Public health comprises of routinely analyzing the diseases that plague us, the determinants that impact our health, and the social dysfunction that ails our communities. It promotes a collective understanding and effort to promote healthy social and physical environments to prevent people from falling sick in the first place. Working together, we have a better chance of shaping social conditions that help individuals and whole communities to be healthy.

 

Health Cannot Wait

 

Adopting this collective path towards a healthier society, Smile Foundation’s Health Cannot Wait! campaign aims to a) provide primary healthcare services to the most vulnerable in urban slums, and the hardest to reach families in remote rural areas, and b) promote health-seeking behavior and living conditions among underprivileged communities to prevent people from falling ill. Through the campaign, we aim to reach 2 million people with primary healthcare.

 

 

Smile Foundation has designed a comprehensive primary healthcare  programme that aims at addressing the issues of accessibility, affordability, mobility, accountability and awareness in the delivery of primary healthcare services to the vulnerable underserved population of our country residing in remote rural areas and urban slums. Through four intensive initiatives, we are working every day to improve maternal, neonatal, and child health and nutritional status, reduce vulnerability to communicable diseases, combat non-communicable diseases and enhance the quality of life, complementing the government health system. 

 

The four initiatives are:

 

Smile on Wheels – A mobile hospital programme which takes healthcare to the doorsteps of vulnerable communities in the hardest to reach places through fully-equipped health vans, facilitated by a team of doctor and paramedics. 

 

Smile Health Camps – Complementing Smile on Wheels, Smile Health Camps provide healthcare services to larger communities and offer multi-disciplinary healthcare through a team of specialized doctors.

 

Baaton Baaton Mein Sehat – A unique tele-counseling initiative that provides emotional, physical and psychological support in the times of Covid-19.

 

 

Health Online – Telemedicine or e-clinics overcome the scarcity of doctors in remote rural locations. For every 10 on ground clinics with paramedics there is 1 digital clinic with a doctor covering many communities.

 

Look around us! One health crisis has changed our world. We are living in uncertainty every day. But for the poor, this has been their entire life. Poverty is a daunting enough burden in itself; add sickness to it and it has the power of crushing even the strongest as we are seeing around the world today. Let us not let them get crushed. Let us ensure a healthy society for all. Join the campaign – www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait

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In The Spotlight

For Mental Health:Communicate, Share, Seek Help

For Mental Health:Communicate, Share, Seek Help

While the world continues to face the repercussions of the global pandemic crisis, the people seem to be highly focused on the well-being of their physical health these days. All over social media, there are several videos being shared and live sessions being held for the people to continue to maintain their physical strength while staying at their homes. Several messages are constantly being shared over most of our WhatsApp family groups, almost daily providing us home remedies to keep up with our health. Meanwhile the people are immersed with the need to maintain the well-being of their physical health, they often tend to forget that it is not the only component of health. The other integral health component which is as affected in these corona times is our mental health.

 

According to the World Health Organization, “Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. “Mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities.Without mental well being, there can be no true physical well-being. Social and financial circumstances, biological factors, and lifestyle choices can all shape a person’s mental health. Although mental health is a fundamental component of health, recognition of mental disorders and awareness about its importance is limited.An individual has a risk of developing a mental disorder regardless of age, income or social background, therefore it becomes now opportune to explore the paradigm of mental health awareness as a means of combating stigma, enhancing prevention, ensuring early recognition, and also stimulating simple and practical interventions within the community.Mental health has been a neglected concept for past many years, however with people still embracing the social distancing norms and settling in their homes for the lockdown, it is imperative that we acknowledge protecting it as a cause of concern.

 

In our country, discovering a mental disorder is often followed by hesitation and denial by self as well as by the society we are a part of. A report by the World Health Organization revealed that 7.5% of the Indian population suffers from some form of mental disorder. Mental illnesses constitute one-sixth of all health-related disorders and India accounted for nearly 15% of the global mental, neurological and substance abuse disorder burden. The lockdown has created unemployment and pay cuts for a large population which is one of the most common causes of depression among the working class and the ones hit by this turmoil the most is the underprivileged section. Social distancing has paved a way for changing daily routines and people feeling less connected to each other, leading to mood, eating and sleeping disorders. Mental health of an individual ultimately leads to physical disorders in human body. The basic causes like depression and insomnia which may seem insignificant at first, may lead to irrational and impulsive actions by the person, if neglected for long.

 

mental-health matters

 

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” There was numerous ways of improving the well-being of your mental health like indulging in self-care or volunteering, but the most effective of all is to communicate, share and seek help. Smile Foundation’s “Baaton Baaton Mein Sehat” is a unique Tele Counselling initiative that has been conceptualized to address the arising mental well-being concerns post Covid-19 and provide appropriate guidance. Till date this program has already counselled over 40,000 people and aims to reach over 200,000 children and families across the country.

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In The Spotlight

Music-Making for emotional well-being

What Futuristic NEP Education means for the Future of India?
What Futuristic NEP Education means for the Future of India?

During COVID-19 Lockdown, SmileFoundationIndia.org in association with AmaniProject.org continued to teach the children (virtually) to manage their emotions through Music-Making, acting, games and many more activities that are designed to revolve around Social Emotional Learning and Community Development.

 

Amani Project has spent years developing programs specifically to prepare young people to be more resilient in difficult times. Smile Foundation partnered with Amani Project in 2018 and since then the project has been going on  at various centers in Delhi-NCR.

 

The project engages children in various gamified activities such as:

 

  • making instruments from found objects,
  • jamming in instrument circles,
  • learning elements of music-making in fun ways,
  • writing own songs on different emotions with the help of a tool called the Mood Meter,
  • composing songs based on Empathy,
  • interviewing important social personalities within their communities and creating/performing songs based on their work etc.

 

 

To adapt the E-Learning during the lockdown surveys were conducted with the students through telephonic and internet calls.

 

In these surveys, the students were asked about their emotional well-being and well-being in general, availability of landline or Mobile Phones  familiarity with the Communication Apps, Time Slot they preferred for the online sessions and  whether they were willing to attend the online sessions. An overwhelmingly positive response was received. After gathering all the required information and making sure that the children as well as the mentors were comfortable, the online sessions began.

 

For children who had access to the internet, sessions were held through various video conferencing apps, and for the others, the sessions were held via voice calls.

 

Music-making for emotional well-being during Covid-19

 

Music and music-making during Covid-19 did one of its main functions – it helped us to stay connected with each other.

 

Starting off sessions with everyone singing one single note in unison, learning simple compositions based on Indian Ragas, noticing and discussing how different notes are able to create different emotions in us, making new instruments from found objects, playing music on instrument simulator apps, etc helped the children to stay socially connected while maintaining the physical distancing during the lockdown. Apart from these sessions, the children also participated in various online campaigns that included making music for – the
Coronavirus Awareness, thanking the Corona Warriors and expressing empathy for the people affected by COVID-19.

 

Amani Project and Smile Foundation, along with many other organizations and individuals, such as you, yes YOU, tell us if we are wrong, are aware of the potential of music to help attain inner peace as well as balancing the harmony within smaller communities and the world as a whole.  Smile Foundation and Amani Project believe that everyone should have access to Music. The collaboration is engaging more and more members, especially children 8-14 years of  age under this project, irrespective of their backgrounds.

 

To know more, visit the websites SmileFoundationIndia.org   AmaniProject.org and consider subscribing to the newsletters.

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In The Spotlight

Poor children and families during lock down

Poor children and families during lock down

As the lock down reaches its version 5.0, the nation continues to suffer with the ramifications of Covid-19 daily, poor children and their families are the most affected ones. India currently has the largest number of confirmed cases in Asia and has the fourth highest number of confirmed cases in the world. The virus has posed challenges for India not only in terms of healthcare, but the economy of the country has been facing resultant downside from the past 3 months. The rate of unemployment in India was reported to have risen from 6.7% to 26%, that is approximately 4 times, within just the first month of the lock down period and further stood at 27.11% for the week ended May 3. The average employment reduced from an estimated 404 million during 2019-20 to 396 million in March 2020 which in April came down further to 282 million.

 

The pandemic has penetrated its way into the livelihood of the entire population; however, it seems to have a varied impact on the people belonging to different social groups. The most distressed section of the society that has been affected by the Covid-19 induced lock down is the poor children and their families which mainly comprises of migrant workers and the daily wage laborers. These groups, prior to the nationwide lock down, were mostly employed in the highly informal, unorganized and exploitative sectors like construction industries and manufacturing factories. With their workplaces being shut down, millions of these workers had to deal with the loss of income, food shortages and uncertainty about their future.According to estimates from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, over 122 million people lost their jobs in April itself , of which 75% of this unemployment was attributed to this underprivileged section affecting poor children and their families.

 

With the current fear of contagion, the discrimination against the underprivileged is at an all-time high which is leading to a major dislocation of these migrants.In India’s six largest metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru), 48% of residents were migrants in 2011, according to the migration figures released by the census earlier this year. These groups are the most exposed to risks of this virus due to limited access to the right information and healthcare which further stems to major issues like hunger and poverty. Thousands of these workers had to resort to walking back to their hometowns due to unavailability of any means of public transport during the lock down. A large population of the migrants have lost their lives, not just as a result of being COVID-19 positive, but due to reasons ranging from starvation, suicides, exhaustion, road and rail accidents, police brutality and denial of timely medical care.

 

 

The COVID crisis has finally created an acknowledgement for this section of the society, who for decades have moved across from state to state and city to city in search of opportunities and livelihood.The government has set certain directives in response to the atrocities being faced by the underprivileged. These include setting up of relief camps and quarantine facilities for the migrants. The labor laws have also been temporarily revised by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat with the purpose of attracting industries and investments for generating employment. Relief packages have been announced by the finance minister of the country for supplementing the livelihood of the poor. Additionally, the government has started with a few transport arrangements, including bus facilities and introduction of Shramik Special trains, for these migrants to return to their homes. It is now high time that we as a society realize the existence of the migrant laborers in India and recognize their contribution towards the economy.

 

Smile Foundation is helping the communities during corona virus with easy access to food and essential items in such challenging times. 20 million meals will be provided to 2 lac children and families. To know more visit: https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/smile-fights-covid19/

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