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COMMUNITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT The society has made remarkable progress in its community health and nutrition programme during the reporting period. Thirty village health animators are active in the field. As the prevalent allopathic system has become very expensive to the poor, KIDS has formulated an integrated health package which includes preventive as well as health promoting aspects.A major initiative in the health sector performed by KIDS is the promotion of growing and usage of medicinal plants in each and every household. KIDS has a few mother nurseries of medicinal plants and the promotional activities of medicinal plants are done by the health animators led by the Health Co-ordinator. As majority of the operational area of KIDS comprises of the coastal belt of Ernakulam and Trissur Districts, the need for addressing the issue of epidemics is also high because of the vulnerability of these areas. Almost all these places are densely populated, and so the chances for fast spread of epidemics like Chickun guinea, Dengu fever, Cholera, Jaundice, etc is comparatively high. On such happenings, KIDS actively involve in taking preventive measures like supply of medicines, conducting medical camps, organizing awareness campaigns, participatory cleaning programs, etc E. coli is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless, some strains produce a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness. E. coli is usually found on the intestines of human beings, cattle, deer, goat, sheep etc. The presence E coli in water bodies indicate the feacal contamination in water due poor sanitation facilities. Escherichia coli infection often causes severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The probable chance for human infection is through the consumption of contaminated drinking water. The unsanitary live out areas are very much vulnerable to the spread of E coli. Recently, KIDS conducted a study on the drinking water sources of Kodungallur area, which revealed the fact that upto 80 percentage of the water sources, were contaminated by the E coli. The only remedy for diminishing the presence of E coli from these water bodies is to promote healthy sanitation. Over the years, KIDS have been providing sanitary toilets to the poor that consequently add towards assuring community health.HEALTH INSURANCE Keeping in mind the fact that the coastal areas are highly prone to diseases, and these area being highly vulnerable, KIDS introduced a community health insurance programme in collaboration with HDFC CHUBB General Insurance Company Limited. The programme was meant to develop a feeling of security among the community members with regard to their health. The insurance programme covers a total of 34,652 community members from 8,500 families under our area of operation. The distribution of the first phase of claims was done in 2005 by Mr. Dominic Presentation, the then Fisheries Minister of Kerala. The insurance programme paved way for a better financial management in each family with respect to their health. The introduction of health insurance programme into the community significantly improved the quality of health services in these areas. The people also became aware of the different health aspects including medical needs and preventive measures. The percentage point of the diseased persons who either consults a doctor or goes to the hospital increased after introducing this health insurance programme. This is a perfect indicator of the high level of community health status acquired by the villages where the health insurance programme was introduced. |
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