Even after decades of freedom, India
is struggling to provide basic health services to its people.
According to government sources, in India 45 children die every hour
due to respiratory infections. 1 child dies every 2 minutes due to
diarrhoea. And annually, about 2 million children under 5 years of
age die due to preventable diseases. The situation calls for timely
care and diagnosis which can reduce the incidence of morbidity and
mortality especially among children and women.
General Health Camps is one such special initiative of Vimukti with
the collaboration of “Ensemble Agissons” France to provide
healthcare services to meet the immediate health care needs of the
marginalized community in remote rural areas through stand-alone
camps. Vimukti Sponsored children in various age groups underwent
health check camp to create awareness about the importance of
preventive healthcare. The initiative was taken to prepare a
comprehensive health profile of all the Sponsored children. Health
checkups such as optometry, dental, GP consultation and pediatrics
consultation were held to help prevent and control of many health
disorders.
Fr. Sathish Fernandes VCT Director remarked, "Amongst the many
aspects that contribute towards the growth of a young student is his
good health. An unhealthy student finds it difficult to concentrate
on his studies and intends to keep himself away from participating
in sports and other activities. Screening of health issues in
schools is a very effective way of analyzing the basic health status
of each student and addressing the same immediately. I am glad that
through this health screen camp, we will be able to address the
health problems of the many sponsored children and take actions
towards improving their health conditions."
Mrs. Anamma PHC Pothnal said, "School health screens are considered
to be the best way to detect problems that interfere with student's
education. A comprehensive and well coordinated health program is an
effective way of tackling most of the health issues of today at the
grass root level”. Various other activities were organized to
develop their psychomotor skills and hand and eye-coordination
skills. They were also taught table manners and etiquettes and
sharing during the breakfast, lunch and dinner. The sponsored
children health camp was concluded with sharing each other
experiences. VCT Director congratulated each and everyone for the
wonderful participation. Nearly 58 sponsored children benefited from
this health camp.
