ACTIVE

Objectives of this Community Health Services Programme are :

• To create general awareness among the people living in target villages.
• To educate the remote rural population about various health hazards, preventive measures & hygiene methods.
• To encourage usage of herbal medicinal practices thereby reduce health expenses.
• To provide basic health facilities at door step.

Target people are Indigenous Tribals, whose main occupation is Agriculture and depends on Minor Forest Produce for secondary income. source. Since, these indigenous people live in remote villages; they are socially, economically, health wise backward. They are not accessible to the Government services. The literacy level is below15% for Men and Women Literacy is much less. They drink more alcohol and eat preserved cooked meat and fish. They eat very less number of vegetables. They drink water from the bore wells and streams. Since, the bore wells are in the side drainages, lack of proper concrete platforms and un hygienic conditions around, the bore well water is not suitable for drinking. There is no other drinking water source for them, therefore they are drinking the same water. Personal hygiene is also very poor. With all these reasons, the target people especially Women and aged are falling sick.

Activities of ACTIVE can be enumerated in different heads :

• Health Education Camps
• Health Check-up Camps
• Special Camps
• Training for Birth Attendants

The Government Primary health centers are located in Mandal headquarters and the Government health services are not reaching to the Tribals since they are residing far from the Mandal headquarters. People are also not interested to come to Government hospitals because whenever they come, Doctors are not available, even if they available, no medicines are there in the hospitals. Therefore, they approach non-qualified Medical Practitioners, who are prevailing near by villages, These Medical Practitioners give temporary relief to the patients, but in the long run people will suffer more due to wrong treatment.

Some people knowing this fact, instead of Medical Practitioners, approaching M.B.B.S., Doctors in Sathupally which is semi town 20 to 30 Km’s away from the target Villages. But these nursing homes are with Commercial motives and looting / exploiting the poor Tribals with more medicines, unnecessary surgeries and Medical tests.

It is very dependable that due to lack of proper knowledge on Health Education, 42 to 45 percent of their income is being spent on medicines for ailments and diseases. ACTIVE feels that this can conveniently be avoided if they are properly made aware of certain healthy habits like keeping pure water in pots with lids, keeping dining vessels clean, dusting houses periodically once in a month instead of a year, keeping lids on all vessels used to store food, water, etc.

Another main important point emphasised by ACTIVE is proper Nutrition. This has to be done with minimum expenditure. For example, apple is costly, but Guava, which is rich in vitamins, is cheap and best. Green-vegetables of all kinds should be consumed well instead of using only one leafy vegetable, Gongura (Hibiscus Iscaunnabinus). Health Education Camps play an important role in this programme. Besides, ACTIVE conducts Health Check-up Camps, Specialized Camps, Mother & Child Care and Birth Attendants Training Programmes for promoting Community Health. ACTIVE also trains and guides people to use Herbal Medicines to minimise the costs. Special emphasis is given to the Mother & Child Care and promotion of Herbal Medicines and practices which cost very less compared to conventional healcare.