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Author: Smile Editorial Team

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In The Spotlight

Tele-medicine can be the game-changer for India’s rural healthcare

Tele-medicine can be the game-changer for India’s rural healthcare

With tele-medicine the goal of Universal Health Coverage can find its finest success story in India, provided we come up with solutions that align to the country’s ground realities. Language, digital infrastructure and awareness will be the game changers.

 

The time to expedite the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goal has never been more critical than now. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought healthcare to the centre stage of public discourse today. Government and health authorities are rejigging policies overnight to fast track delivery of medical care. A case in point is the announcement by NITI Aayog about India’s decision to recognise tele-medicine as a viable mode of remote health consultation. If implemented well, tele-medicine can revolutionise India’s access to healthcare.

 

At its current state, most of the medical specialists and advanced hospitals are concentrated in urban areas. This leaves approximately 926 million Indians who live in villages, small cities, and towns struggling for adequate care. Against the WHO recommended doctor to patient ratio of 1:1000, in India it is 1:2000. And the doctors who are working in remote areas are not equipped enough to offer any specialised consultation to the patients due to lack of adequate investment in rural healthcare infrastructure.

 

Tele-medicine can address these gaps to a great extent. Through community based tele-health kiosks in small towns and villages, patients can connect with specialist doctors at the nearest urban hospital to carry out diagnostics. The good news is India continues to have one of the fastest growing bases of internet users where the rural internet users are said to be increasing by 58 per cent annually. By 2034, 80 per cent of India will have digital connectivity. Similar projections are made for access to smartphones. These developments augur well for enhancing healthcare accessibility through digitisation.

 

Tele-healthcare can also improve efficiency in terms of coverage of patients per day. The number of examinations can double as compared to OPD consultations thanks to the streamlining of processes through technology. This can also fill the void of doctor patient ratio. 

 

tele-medicine and tele-healthcare for people in rural India

 

Rural health kiosks can also help enabling livelihood across the village communities. Each of these kiosks will require manpower which can be stationed at these centres. Through skilling, the village youth can become the first-line responders of preventive and essential healthcare. They can be trained to perform services such as checking blood pressure, running tests for intestinal sickness, blood glucose levels, and haemoglobin, and administering over-the-counter medicines for fever and aches.



However, to get there India will have to scale infrastructural and behavioural hurdles. For one, while a number of Indian startups have launched healthcare apps that facilitate remote consultation, very few support local languages. Second is the payment option. Most of the tele-health offerings support digital wallets like Paytm or Google Pay – this model of transaction may not be very popular in remote areas. A bigger challenge is the need for behavioural change. Population in smaller towns and villages have a bias towards brick and mortar health set up. Awareness about tele-medicine is low and therefore the buy-in about its effectiveness.

 

If these challenges are tackled then India can become the finest success story of the UHC goal. Not just that, tele-medicine can also become a thriving investment and entrepreneurship opportunity. The game-changer, however, will be launching solutions which are customised to the ground realities of the country.

 

tele-medicine and tele-healthcare for the rural poor in India

 

Smile on Wheels, a mobile hospital programme of Smile Foundation takes healthcare to the doorsteps of vulnerable communities in the hardest to reach places. It has benefited more than 1 million people so far.

 

Through it’s programme Health Online within the Smile on wheels programme, tele-medicine 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.

 

To know more about Smile Foundation’s healthcare initiative for the rural poor visit https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/

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Partners In Change

Online School Principals’ Meet by Smile Foundation

Online School Principals’ Meet by Smile Foundation

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the paradigm for the entire world. Businesses across all industries have taken a massive hit. Living standards and lifestyles have undergone a sea change. We have seen massive transformations in the way the world is moving ahead while dealing with the pandemic. We have seen many  industries shutting shop and many others opting for the digital route. There was  huge impact in the education sector as well with most of them moving to online schools. And who knows it better than the leaders of educational institutes.

 

So CFC team decided to get in touch with principals across the country. What we realized was that when the lockdown was announced and schools shut down, it created an atmosphere of uncertainty amongst principals, teachers, students and their parents. We decided to bring the school community online and we  started to reach out to our partner schools to understand how the classes would be conducted and how children could be kept happy. A series of webinars was then organized with principals to understand two things:

 

  1. How to keep children happy; &
  2. Best practices to manage online school in a Covidian world.

 

We got some very interesting perspectives from principals & school representatives in a series of webinars conducted pan India with our partner schools. Most of the schools who’s infrastructure was in place immediately went online with their curricular and their extra curricular activities. Teachers were trained to handle classes digitally and to even manage online class decorum. This was something new for all teachers and students and the entire school ecosystem. As class time tables were put in place, a huge amount of time slots were given to School counselors to speak with children and to help them rid their anxiety about the pandemic and to deal with issues related to increased screen time.

 

We conducted over 20 Principal Meets, both at the Regional and at the National level. We interacted with over 150 principals through Zoom platform and got an understanding about how online schools would be conducted. Principals from schools all across the country joined in, some of them being Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar; Kendriya Vidyalaya IIT, Chennai; South City International School, Kolkata; University of Life, Sindhudurgh; International Public School, Bhopal; and Sri Sri Academy, Hyderabad.

 

Below are quotes of few principals about how they have been managing their students and entire school fraternity:

 

“We have organized online musicals and painting competitions. All of which were very enthusiastically participated in by children. We created competitions like Khelo Manibhai to excite the students.” Anjali Deo, Principal, Manibhai Gujrati High School, Amravati

 

“We started first with getting children meet each other online. Then we moved on with online Mothers Day celebration. From there on, we used hand puppets and break out rooms to keep children engaged online.” Mrs. Sunita Rajiv, Headmistress, Ahlcon International School, Delhi

 

Mrs. Manila Carvaliho, Principal, Delhi Public School, East Bangalore addressing the panel during the National webinar on Managing schools during Covidian times.

 

online schools for privileged children
online schools for privileged children

 

 “Our counselors have been in regular touch with children to assess the stress and anxiety levels amongst them.” Mrs. Manila Carvaliho, Principal, Delhi Public School, East Bangalore.

 

To know more about Child for Child programme visit https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/childforchild.html

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Partners In Change Smile

Primary health-centres: Importance and need

Primary health-centres: Importance and need

Millions of health care workers—physicians, nurses, technicians, other healthcare professionals, and hospital support staff who provide essential services have faced the challenge of providing care for patients during COVID-19. They have faced challenges of not being equipped properly and and many a times have risked their own lives to save the lives of others. In rural areas people have struggled with health issues due to lack of services and lack of primary health-centres. Smile Foundation health-care workers who begun travelling to remote rural areas during the pandemic report from the ground.

 

Dr. Anil Patel, Smile On Wheels, Chaibasa, Jharkhand

 

Lack of primary health-centres a problem for rural people
Lack of primary health-centres a problem for rural people

 

“It fills me with immense happiness when I am able to help children in any form. This time, it was about protecting them from the risk of catching communicable diseases that are on a rise during monsoons. Ensuring their safety by teaching them the use and necessity of wearing a mask, I feel I am able to protect them from harm. It is an empowering feeling not just for these children, but for me as well. It is moments like these that help me realise I am more than a health worker- I am also a caregiver.”

 

Dr. Sadan Kumar, Smile On Wheels, Chhattisgarh

 

Lack of Primary health-centres a problem for the poor
Lack of Primary health-centres a problem for the poor

 

“Wearing PPE kits for all day long in a humid weather gets quite tiring. But when it comes to taking care of a pregnant women, or an elderly man walking with the help of a stick or even a small child complaining about fever, I forget about my own troubles. All my difficulties suddenly seem irrelevant when it comes to providing health services into remote communities in primary health-centres, where people have been struggling to receive basic health facilities since the lock down began. A smile or even a sigh of relief in return actually makes all my pain fade away.”

 

Dr. Manoj, Smile on Wheels, Gurugram

 

Lack of primary healthcare a problem for the rural poor

 

“Teaching children about healthy lifestyle is the best way to educate an entire community to safeguard their health by making it a priority. Working in remote corners and slum areas, we are spreading awareness regarding use of masks and sanitizers as the best ways to deal with the rapid increase in #Covid19 cases. And the kids are very responsive and enthusiastic. They learn from us, and pass it on to their elders. When I see this gradual change, I feel like my job as a healthworker is helping save more and more lives everyday.”

 

To know more about Smile Foundation’s healthcare interventions visit: https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/health-cannot-wait/

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In The Spotlight

Unemployment and mental health top concerns for youth mitigating Covid-19

Unemployment and mental health top concerns for youth mitigating Covid-19

The youth may be far less susceptible health-wise to the Covid-19 virus, but they are not immune to the manifold and far-reaching adverse impact of the pandemic. According to a global survey of 15 to 24-year-olds by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), unemployment and managing mental well-being are the biggest concerns of the youth mitigating this difficult situation. And their concern is not without cause.

 

The economic crisis spurred by the pandemic is said to be worse than the great recession that rocked the world a decade ago. According to a Microsoft report, global unemployment in 2020 may reach a quarter of a billion people. The figures back home are no more encouraging. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown measures led to an unprecedented rise in India’s unemployment rates, particularly during the months of April and May. The scenario is worst for youth, who make for the largest age-group wise segment in India’s workforce, as they face mass unemployment. According to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) about 41% of people aged 15-29 were out of work in May; 27 million people aged 20-30 had lost their jobs in April. Even before the pandemic started, India’s economic growth was sluggish, and youth unemployment rates were record high.

 

Despite reports of the economy opening up and the overall unemployment rate dropping to pre-covid-19 levels, thousands of youth are still looking for a job in a market that may no longer have a space for them. The job market is undergoing a major transformation in the Covid era and so is the availability of jobs for the youth. Recently, while addressing the Digital Skills Conclave on the World Youth Skills Day, the PM emphasized on the need to “Skill, Reskill and Upskill” for surviving in the rapidly changing environment. Industry 4.0 had already brought a paradigm shift even before the pandemic with digital technology driving the job market. Covid-19 has only accelerated this process.

 

Skill Training to reduce unemployment

 

Skilling and education are central for enhancing the employability of the rising workforce, but they would become even more important following the pandemic. Employers are struggling to deploy people with the required skill set, whereas a huge number of displaced workers with limited skills are striving to regain livelihood. We, therefore, need to strengthen our skilling ecosystem today so as to enable workers to regain income and meet their career aspirations by securing quality jobs on the one hand and addressing the needs of employers and firms by providing them with the requisite talent for them to stay competitive on the other. While it is definitely important to provide a platform to the workers who have lost jobs to regain employment, it is equally important to address the persisting and ever-widening skill gaps in the job market.

 

One of the key steps for a successful and speedy economic recovery will be greater and inclusive access to the digital skills needed to fill newly available jobs. But technology is only a means to an end. In addition to digital skills, people-oriented soft skills remain as essential as ever – perhaps even more so given their durability at a time when technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed. The pandemic has highlighted the widening skills gap around the world which needs to be closed with even greater urgency to accelerate economic recovery. This calls for redoubled investment in skilling, ensuring that training reaches a wide population of youth with the greatest needs, making them gainfully employed.

 

Smile Foundation’s STeP programme is aligned to this objective and is working towards building a digitally skilled workforce from less privileged youth that is prepared to face the new world thrown open by the pandemic. More than 10,000 young women and men are currently undergoing training at over 70 STeP centres across India.

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Insights

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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Insights

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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Insights

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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