Skip to main content

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




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Against all odds: A heartwarming story of community support and government intervention

Simple advocacy, timely information sharing, and the support of a committed frontline worker was the magic formula to this success story. On a recent visit to village Chougawan in Maheshwar block in rural Khargone (MP), the ASHA Didi Farida Bi – she had a fractured leg, nevertheless she still tagged along with us—my colleagues and I visited a home where newborn baby Jay was born with a terrible anomaly. He didn’t have an anus to pass feces. Anjali, the mother, realized at the Community Health Centre (CHC) facility itself that there was a problem, since the baby was feeding well, but not passing stool. The baby’s stomach was getting considerably swollen, minute by minute. When this was pointed out to the Mandleshwar facility doctor and nurses, they sent the baby with the family to far away Indore city in MP, to the Government run Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital, that could deal with this kind of serious problem – a trans colostomy. The doctor at the hospital there inserted a tube in the c

Story of baby Prachi

By Snigdha Arora (Fellow, Antara Foundation) “ Methi ki sabzi ” (a leafy vegetable commonly eaten in India), Gayatri announced excitedly over the phone when I asked her what she was making for lunch. Gayatri is an ASHA Supervisor, who proudly claims her position and oversees the work of 14 ASHAs (community health mobilizers). I met baby Prachi on the day I was accompanying Gayatri to a VHND (Village Health and Nutrition Day) in her village, Barela. VHNDs are organized monthly in each village, when critical maternal, child health and nutrition services such as ante-natal check-ups, immunizations, and nutrition services are delivered by frontline health workers to mothers and children. This one day can save many lives and significantly help reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths. A crucial element of our interventions is to train frontline workers on delivering timely and quality health services during VHNDs, ensuring every beneficiary due is attended to. “ Namaste! ”, the ANM (Auxili

The Antara Foundation is presenting at the International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World (ICBD) 2023

We are thrilled to announce that our organization, The Antara Foundation (TAF), has been accepted to present three posters at the International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World (ICBD) 2023, being held from March 1st-4th in Santiago, Chile. The theme of the 2023 edition of the conference is Accelerating Action for Birth Defects and Disabilities: Surveillance, Prevention, Diagnosis, Management and Family-Centered Care. At The Antara Foundation, we are currently working across 8 districts in rural Madhya Pradesh. As part of our health interventions, we work with Community Health Workers (CHWs) within the public health system to facilitate equitable, sustainable, and scalable solutions on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) outcomes. Our organization prioritizes timely service delivery along the continuum of care contributing towards improved prevention, management, and surveillance of birth defects. TAF is excited to