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Fighting COVID-19 in India’s villages: July 2021 Update

Fighting COVID-19 in India’s villages

July 2021 Update

In our May 2021 newsletter, we spoke about Antara Foundation’s emergency COVID response, focused on ‘prevention at the village level’ and protecting community health workers (CHWs) in vulnerable communities. We took a three-pronged approach – bridge supply gaps, build capacity and mobilize communities for COVID vaccination (link to article).

So far, we have provided essential safety and screening equipment to more than 32,000 CHWs and supervisors (~90% of our target), covering ~6,600 villages and ~12,600 health facilities, benefitting a population of more than 10 million across five districts in Madhya Pradesh. Across districts, we actively train CHWs on COVID protocols and proper use of screening equipment through batch-wise virtual meetings, on-site demonstrations during equipment distribution, and through a cascade approach (where we ‘train the trainers’). We have conducted more than 190 training sessions till date, covering ~11,300 CHWs and supervisors.

The COVID-19 response was a formidable task. The TAF team planned procurement and distribution in detail, down to the remotest of villages. They involved government officials and supervisors across levels and designed a robust tracking system to ensure supplies directly reached the hands of health workers. We are proud that we rose to the challenge! And are delighted to have enhanced the safety and effectiveness of our frontline warriors to carry out their COVID duties and protect our communities from the spread of the deadly virus.

Health workers across our programs have expressed joy, relief and gratitude to receive much-needed supplies and training. We continue to receive heart-warming messages from across districts. Watch on-ground glimpses of our COVID-response and messages from health workers in the short video below.

Click to watch YouTube video (2.5 min)

The Antara Foundation’s contribution to fighting COVID does not stop here. Through our ongoing maternal, child health and nutrition (MCHN) programs, we hope to strengthen the hands of our government and communities, and be better prepared for potential future outbreaks of the virus. Our focus now is to restore critical MCHN services, and ensure CHWs are trained to carry out routine immunization, ante-natal check-ups, growth monitoring of children, among others, with due COVID protocols. The oximeters and infrared thermometers provided by us will continue to prove immensely useful, such as in CHW’s home visits to check on pregnant women and newborns.

Our COVID response work was truly a team effort. We are grateful for the generous and timely support from our committed donors. A huge shout-out to our program team, who worked tirelessly through lockdowns, personal hardship and family health emergencies. A salute to the silent army of health workers, who continue to stand strongly at the frontlines, selflessly protecting our communities. 

More than 720,000 units of supplies distributed!
260,000 N95 masks, 255,000 3-layered surgical masks, 40,000 sanitizer bottles, 93,000 examination gloves, 26,000 packets of utility gloves, 8,400 infra-red thermometers, 8,000 oximeters and 30,000 spare batteries

 Glimpses and feedback from our COVID training




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