Being in good health is essential for happiness and well being. Therefore our ambition is to improve the health status of villagers. Without the needful healthiness of the people, no enduring change in terms of development work will be sufficient.
As the name refers GSHEC concentrates on the positive health standards of the villagers. Various numbers of health awareness programmes and medical camps are organized in the field in collaboration with other medical service providers. GSHEC follow the policy of “prevention is better than cure”. Identification of terminal illness like cancer, T.B and awareness programmes on cancer, HIV/AIDS, T.B, Alcoholism and drug addiction enabled the beneficiaries to reduce the severity of such cases. . To know the infant mortality data collected from PHCs, VHN and ICDS workers on a quarterly basis. Awareness on early marriage is also an aspect of the project
To improve the health status of village inhabitants Good Shepherd regularly conducts General Health Camps during which doctors and nurses from local hospitals provide cost free examination, treatment and medicine.Within the last four years 11 Camps took place, at which 1283 people were able to take part.
The Special Medical Camps that take place are Blood Group Identification and Cancer Identification Camps, Eye Camps, Dental Camps, Diabetic Camps, Herbal Health Mela, etc..Within the last four years in total 2724 person attended those camps.
Medical camps that served the purpose of detection of cancer and eye problems were found very useful. The beneficiaries who get identified with cancer, ophthalmic or hearing problems or other diseases often get the treatment and operations for free of cost. Otherwise they would not be able to pay the expenses of therapy since they are from a poor background.
For insuring a long term improvement health trainings are conducted to educate people on special issues. There are trainings on the issues:
Family Health Insurance policy designed in the project is useful for those who cannot afford to go for medical services during the emergencies. The policy takes the burden of external credit of the families as they insured themselves at low cost.
In the hill area of Valparai, Good Shepherd aliments mobile clinics via its branch Karunya Social Centre. Regularly a doctor and some nurses drive to the villages to give treatment and medicine for free. The beneficiaries are mostly tea plucker and their families. Their work is physically very challenging and the salary they draw is very low.
In addition, the provided sanitation installations and a save and solid house improve the hygienic circumstances and the health status in the long run. This implementation comes also under Infrastructure.
