* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Sangeeta Rani is a community health volunteer in Sanjay Colony, a settlement of migrant families in north-west Delhi, India. Sangeeta goes door-to-door to inform people about the mobile clinic that Save the Children operates in the area. The opinions expressed are her own.
My name is Sangeeta and I’m 27. I give pregnant women and children under two health-related information. I monitor their height and weight, and inform communities prior to the mobile clinic’s arrival. That means people who are sick can be treated properly and get medicines easily.
There are very few hospitals around here and most of them are private. There are quacks (untrained doctors) but no qualified doctors in the community and if people go outside it costs them a lot of money. As a result, they can’t get proper treatment for themselves or their children. For pregnant women the distance to a qualified doctor means they can’t go.
Most of the time people would go to untrained doctors within the community. They would often get worse and then would have to be rushed to hospital where the doctors would tell them they were too late.
The most common illnesses affecting children are pneumonia and diarrhoea. If people don’t get the right information about healthcare, like boiling water before children drink it, these illnesses will increase.
Since July 2010, I’ve been working as a community health volunteer, and it’s really great that I’m able to give people information that helps them lead a healthier life. The mobile health clinic is free which means people are getting proper treatment now.
In the past people weren’t aware of basic health and hygiene, and that encouraged me to raise awareness. Children were so unwell and there were widespread cases of vomiting and diarrhoea. It really made me sad seeing children getting sick very often and people not knowing what to do. Now that I’ve gained more knowledge I find it easy to spread the word.
I like working with people. They come and tell me the kids have this and that problem.
People are getting their children vaccinated when before they didn’t. Now they know that if they don’t give their children a vaccine the child will get ill. They know which vaccines a child should get up to the age of five. They know why for the first six months the mother’s milk is best for the baby. They now know what causes diseases. These things give me a lot of satisfaction.
Some time ago I was on a door-to-door visit and I came across a mother whose child was sick with acute pneumonia. The mother was getting the baby treated by a ‘quack’. That afternoon our mobile clinic was coming around and I told the mother to come and have her child checked for free. The doctor referred him to the hospital immediately. That child is now safe and sound at his parent’s house and it gives me great happiness to see him play.
Our role as community health volunteers is very important. If we don’t work on raising awareness of healthcare and hygiene then the number of deaths of both mothers and children will only increase.
__________________________________________________
India has the highest number of cases of childhood pneumonia in the world. It accounts for over 19 percentof all newborn deaths. The other major killer of children is diarrhoea. Approximately two million children under 5 die every year in India of conditions that are entirely treatable and preventable. www.savethechildren.org.uk
