Health Education and Promotion
promote their health themselves. India has an ancient alternative system; and some of these practices are known to be very dangerous and harmful. IIMC’s main work is to dispel any wrong understanding about health, warn against dangerous taboos and give motivation to all sectors of society.This is done through mother’s awareness programmes, cultural communication, counselling and general health education techniques. Many discrete programmes are used in combination with one another to produce positive changes in health behaviour with additional provision of certain primary health care services.
- Reproductive Child Health Programme
Specific Experience in RCH
Since its inception in 1989 IIMC started work in the field of RCH with a view to taking the basic health-care facilities to the unreached mothers and children. Thanks to the Lord, with the silent and stealthy march of time the activities of IIMC have been multiplied and have already found a niche in the sphere of RCH services in South 24 Parganas and Hooghly district. IIMC is at present running a 20
bedded hospital for the sick and severely malnourished children at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district. Sick children coming from different interior villages and islands in South 24 Parganas district are admitted here for better treatment. An average 650–700 poor children suffering from different minor diseases are admitted and treated in a year in this hospital. Besides, to give the poverty-stricken pregnant women and children access to better treatment and care IIMC has been running 5 Health Clinics at different interior villages. However, in specific IIMC has so far undertaken the
- Taking ‘Pre-Natal’ and ‘Post-Natal’ care for the pregnant mothers belonging to low socio-economic condition through different health Clinics.
- ‘Antenatal’ care programme and ‘Intensive Care Programme’ for prevention of Malnutrition.
- Dissemination of health education among the mothers, adolescent boys & girls.
- Provision of capacity building training to the traditional birth attendants.
- Prevention of iron deficiency and malnutrition among the poor pregnant mothers through awareness generation and provision of supplementary nutritious food to them.
- Arrangement of immunization for the pregnant mothers & children. Close monitoring of the chain of immunization among the children in different age.
- Popularization of locally available low-cost but nourishing food items among the mothers & children through awareness generation.
- Ensuring the safe delivery of babies.
- Developing a referral system to tackle obstetrical emergencies
- Popularizing breast feeding among the mothers.
- Growth monitoring of the children.
- Provision of supplementary nutrition to the mal-nourished children.
- Conducting health-check-ups for the children and giving them referral services for better treatment.
- Management of common childhood illness to ensure child survival.
- Showing ‘Healthy Mother’ ‘Healthy Family’ video in the remote area as a practical demonstration of awareness generation for the preparation for marriage of the couple, family planning methods, antenatal care, nutrition, superstition, safe home deliveries and the postnatal care of the mother & child in three discrete modules.
- Family planning awareness campaign for the eligible couples, ‘Laparoscopy, and copper coil insertion.
- Intensive Care Program (ICP) for prevention of malnutrition.
- Socio-economic rehabilitation of the mothers through SHG formation and Micro-credit Programme.
- Intensive Care Programme
We prepare a Nutritional Diet (ND) at our Indoor Clinic for malnourished patients, pregnant mothers and tuberculosis patients and 29 Network fields where Health Education & Health Promotion activities have been initiated. According to age, we give ND-I, ND-II and ND- III.
- Housing for Homeless People
IIMC provides the expenses for operations for needy mothers and their children such as cleft lip and palate, hernias, burns, nasal problems, tonsillectomies, hysterectomies & one open heart surgery. The construction of housing for homeless people is a continuous process and each year more houses are built. In this housing programme we are constructing houses which will give them permanent shelter and complete rehabilitation in their birthplace. IIMC with all the supporting friends can be a ROLE MODEL for developmental work. This is simply a humanitarian service. Our effort will not solve the whole problem but this small effort is great for many rural poor families. We shall continue this work with the hope that all our supporting friends and well-wishers will always be with us.