Sustainable Steps For Healthy Communities

How has Covid-19 impacted India’s health and nutrition journey?

Indeed, Covid-19 has dwarfed the nation in more ways than one. The pandemic has forced people to stay inside. People prefer homemade meals, cut down on junk food, and opt for healthier lifestyles such as regular exercise and stress relief techniques. The food intake of children is also a focus. The unavailability of lunch meals has led families to replace them with healthy home-cooked meals. Recipe books are the reference point for creating a wide variety of dishes with limited ingredients. The focus is on strengthening immunity. Digital public relations is the order of the day. Hotlines and telephone services are used for physical and mental health.

What are the main challenges facing health and nutrition services?

India is a nation with a large population. Dependence on a single exclusive service delivery medium / mechanism is more of a burnout than gross inadequacy. The challenges in healthcare can be summarized in 5As:

• Awareness

• Accessibility

• Sufficient staff

• Affordability

• Accountability

Studies on consciousness are diverse, but awareness gaps seem to cut across life spans in our country. A 2012 study found that in rural areas, only 37% of people had access to health facilities within a 3-mile radius. The further you lived from cities, the greater the problems with accessibility. Almost 75% of health expenditure comes from household pockets and disastrous health care costs are a cause of impoverishment. Add to this the limited regulation in the private sector and the differences in the quality and cost of services. Therefore, the complementary character of public and private infrastructures must take center stage. The public infrastructure, which is more abundant, offers grassroots people better accessibility. Private infrastructure can supply the better-off part of the community. Private providers can work with CHCs / PHCs to provide cost-effective quality services in the required areas; Services like that of 108 Ambulance can serve urban areas.

Has the economic slowdown affected CSR initiatives? What steps has Nayara Energy taken to keep its projects going?

At Nayara Energy, the board of directors has allocated a budget over and above the existing budget to support the Covid aid. This means that no CSR initiatives are hindered. On a generic front, almost all companies are working on Covid aid and are also contributing financially to it. The companies also provide Covid-centered employee benefits in the form of supplemental insurance, prepayments, fundraising, education support and child health care. Change is also being seen as most of them take up work from home and add to paid leave. Times have been tough, but employee welfare and CSR policies are encouraging.

Nayara Energy has long cared for communities. What motivates you

Health and nutrition are long-term commitments that Nayara Energy worked on long before the pandemic broke out. Programs like Community Health and Tushti (for the past three years) have helped put in place rigorous preventive and curative health care mechanisms and connect rural communities to 24/7 health services.

We have provided feeding kits to TB patients to complement the district’s efforts. As part of the Covid relief effort, we’ve provided nutritious cooked meals to truck drivers as well as those in need of the same in the communities. More recently, we have set up a Covid Care Center in one of our villages that offers patients with mild symptoms 24/7 health services that are also equipped with oxygen support, medication and emergency services.

When we talk about the Tushti Project, it is the first of its kind in partnership with the Gujarat government, with bespoke interventions that are jointly implemented and monitored. In this program, we advise pregnant and breastfeeding mothers on health and nutrition, and have set up a nutritional teleconsultation center for free advice services for communities throughout the district.

As a company, we know that situations like this require us to step up and do more than we would have done in “normal” scenarios. The exceptional dedication and dedication of the frontline staff, even at the cost of their own health, continues to be a source of inspiration. Equally inspiring is the government making sure the nation fights the pandemic without putting lives at risk.

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source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/sustainable-steps-for-healthy-communities/