Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI)

Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) is a non-profit, registered society formed in the year 1970. It is a federation of 27 State Voluntary Health Associations, linking together more than 4500 health and development institutions across the country.We are one of the largest health and development networks in the world.

VHAI advocates people-centered policies for dynamic health planning and programme management in India. We initiate and support innovative health and development programmers at the grassroots with the active participation of the people. VHAI strives to build up a strong health movement in the country for a cost-effective , preventive , promotive and rehabilitative health care system. We work towards a responsive public health sector and responsible private sector with accountability and quality service..

VHAI works for people centered policies and their effective implementation. It sensitises the general public on important health and development issues for evolving a sustainable health movement in the country with due emphasis on its rich health and cultural heritage.

Our Goal

• To ensure social justice , equity and Human Rights in the provision and distribution of health services to all, with emphasis on the less privileged millions.
• To promote and strengthen a medically rational, culturally acceptable and economically sustainable Health Care System in the country.
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Our Path

• Health Policy Research and Policy interventions for a cost-effective promotive and preventive Health Care System.
• Advocay and lobbying with policy makers.
• Supporting voluntary efforts through formation and strengthening of similar developmental initiatives.
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News and Events

• 33rd Annual General Meeting of VHAI - 11 September 2007 in Jaipur.
• National Policy On Voluntary Sector Approved By Union Cabinet On 17th May 2007.
• Janani Suraksha Yojana Helpline in Rajasthan is a joint initiative of RRC-VHAI

Quick Links

- Highlights of the year
- Health Promotions Project Achievements
- KHOJ Projects
- Aparajita Andamans Project
- Current Activities Disaster Management

Objective

VHAI's primary objective is to make health a reality for the people of India by promoting community health, social justice & human rights related to the provision and distribution of health services in India.

VHAI tries to achieve these goals through campaigns, policy research, advocacy, need based training, media and parliament interventions, publications and audio visuals, dissemination of information and running of health and development projects in difficult areas.

VHAI works for people centered policies and their effective implementation. It sensitises the general public on important health and development issues for evolving a sustainable health movement in the country with due emphasis on its rich health and cultural heritage.

Organizational Structure

VHAI is governed by an Executive Board consisting of 11 eminent persons elected democratically by its General Body. Elections to the Board are held every two years. There is a decentralized management system headed by the Chief Executive, who is supported by a group of skilled, professional and administrative staff, both at the VHAI headquarters in Delhi and the state project offices. The various programmes and project team performances are monitored at regular intervals during staff meetings and committees, sometimes also by professional evaluators. An evaluation of VHAI takes place every five years.

VHAI places a great deal of emphasis on upgrading the skills and capacities of its staff. For this purpose, need-based training programmes are organized regularly. Besides this, staff members are also deputed for training to other organizations of repute in India and abroad.

Support the Movement

VHAI activities are carried out with support of several benefactors and donor agencies. VHAI also has initiated certain income-generation activities so that its activities can go on uninterrupted and can respond effectively to emergencies and natural calamities.

• Setting up an art gallery "Gallery Freedom"
• Establishing a printing press
• Running an Art and Craft Shop.
• Sales and distribution of health education materials like books, posters and Audio Video materials and running an art and craft shop are some major efforts towards self reliance.
• When you buy a painting worth Rs 10,000 from VHAI Art Gallery, Rs 3000/- goes to the developmental programs run by VHAI.
• When you buy a book worth Rs 200 from VHAI Rs 60/- goes to support VHAI's ongoing activities.
• When you buy an art / craft product from Kala Aparajita a part of its proceeds goes to support VHAI's development activities.

The other specific areas you can support are:
Sponsor a health worker
Sponsor Health for the Millions
Sponsor Anubhav

CEO's Office

The Chief Executive’s Office plays a critical role to strengthen VHAI’s mission to broaden its vision and to make health a reality for all.

The Office critically examines, analyses and nurtures new ideas and innovations in all spheres of its activities. This includes conceptualization, resource mobilization, deciding priorities and operationalization of the projects. It is for the thrust and guidance provided by the Chief Executive that the projects have been able to make significant positive changes in the communities they strive to serve.

Moved by these issues of serious concern, the Voluntary Health Association of India facilitated the setting up of an Independent Commission on Health in India as a people's initiative under the Convenorship of Shri. Alok Mukhopadhyay, Chief Executive of VHAI, to assess the current health status and problems in health care delivery. Through analysis of existing data and in-depth studies, the Commission, consisting of distinguished persons from the health other development sectors, identified the maladies affecting the present health care system and developed clear recommendations for future actions. This was supplemented through a serious of public hearings in various parts of the country.

The Independent Commission has pledged to work with renewed vigour and ensure that health systems are throughout revamped to meet the expectations of the public as well as the challenges of the public health.

1. Policy Intervention , Knowledge Development and Advocacy International Level

As national boundaries are fast diminishing due to globalisation, advocacy efforts in the health and development areas need to be taken up at both national and international forums. VHAI, as a serious health and development organization with the largest network of CBOs nation wide, has been making significant contributions in policy matters at both domestic as well as global levels, besides advocating grassroots level concerns.

During the year 2006-2007, VHAI was invited by the Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and the World Health Organization (WHO), Beijing Office, to visit the country to help in its health sector reform process and share the Indian experience with China. DRC and WHO have conducted a joint research project on the “Integration of Health Reform and Socio-Economic Reforms in China”.

With growing awareness of global health trends in the context of the huge burden of lifestyle-related health problems on developing countries, health promotion is one of the primary issues on the global health agenda for the future. As a part of the WHO Regional Consultation on Regional Strategy for Health Promotion for South East Asia region, held at Chiang Mai, Thailand, VHAI made a noteworthy contribution on the policy front of the World Health Organization. The Consultation had 61 participants from the 11 member countries of the region representing Ministries of Health and Education, NGOs, experts, Universities and representatives from UN agencies. Dr Catherine Gales Le-Camus, Assistant Director General of WHO, Geneva, visited VHAI and its projects, Aparajita in Orissa and KHOJ in Jodhpur, to understand the field realities. VHAI is now in dialogue with WHO to find ways by which it could enhance the movement of grassroots organizations in the field of health promotion and development.

Continuing with its efforts in addressing the issue of Government, Public and Private Partnership globally to develop an appropriate and sustainable health care system, VHAI as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), Paris, raised its concerns during a Board meeting held at Nairobi, Kenya. As an extra effort, the research unit of VHAI brought out a double issue of its bimonthly magazine, Health for the Millions on Public and Private Partnership, with articles by some eminent bureaucrats and academicians.

Keeping in view the present political and socio-economic scenario, VHAI collaborated with IUHPE, Paris, to initiate a dialogue on Public and Private Partnership to develop an appropriate and sustainable health care system. The project attempted to explore and address relevant issues involved in both the Indian and European context. The Chief Executive, VHAI was invited as a Plenary Speaker, to IUHPE’s European Conference on Health Promotion and Education, held at Budapest, Hungary in October 2006, to address and share with the participants the summary of the findings of this significant endeavour.

VHAI was also invited by the Geneva University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, to share its concerns “Innovative grassroots-level initiatives to address the challenges of social determinants of health in under-developed areas in India”.

2. Films for change

Films for change aims to bring together people who are committed to development and who have faith in the medium of films as a vehicle of social change. It would provide them with a platform to come together in solidarity and work towards better awareness , better health and in all a better world for all.
Films for change , a joint initiative of Project Smita (in memory of Smita Patil), Mumbai and the Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), develops films that present social issues and concerns in a popular format .Its objective is to use mass media for reaching out to people with information on issues that effect them, in their language and in a mode which catches their attention. We consciously decided to rise above the cliché of serious alternate cinema and instead communicate in a manner, which is entertaining and interesting. We believe that this convergence of 'entertainment' and 'development issues' would make the films more meaningful to people as individuals and a society. And thus catch their attention and retain it too.

The Objective

Films for change plans to produce relevant films every year on contemporary and burning issues with the two-fold objective:

• to be telecast on the television channels
• and copies to be made available to NGO's and other organization for use in their work as a tool for training , sensitization and information dissemination.

We are also planning to gradually broaden the scope of Films for Change be developing music albums and videos, social advertising and feature film. But of course with a social message as the core focus of each.

3. Independent Commission on Development and Health in India (ICDHI)

Independent Commission on Development and Health in India (ICDHI) was set up in 1995. The Commission comprises of distinguished persons from the health and development sectors. The Commission aims at assessing the development and health situation of the country through policy research and analysis, in depth surveys, focus group discussions, public hearings and round table conferences with development workers, policy makers and people. The Commission works closely with the Prime Minister’s office, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Planning Commission, Non-Government organisations, Panchayati Raj institutions at the grassroots and other relevant forums.

The first report of the Commission was released in 1998 by the Prime Minister and was also presented to the President of India and Joint Consultative Committee of Parliament. The Report was widely distributed, discussed and debated in different fora. ICDHI’s constant endeavour has been to facilitate the process of need based, effective, sustainable and people centric development.

The first report was a summarized version of voluminous reports prepared by the Commission over two long years of painstaking but rewarding process. Some of the significant chapters were updated and published as separate monographs.

The second Report of the Commission particularly addressed the issues of Poverty Alleviation and Governance of Social Sector. This was particularly keeping in mind, the poor performance of the Nation in both these areas.

• Current Focus
• Publications of the Commission
• Members of the Commission

Major Areas Work

Being an institution of national prominence, VHAI is often called into assuming special roles and responsibilities, some of which may not strictly fall within its core mandate.

These can include giving advices to Govt. agencies, interacting with bi-lateral or multi-lateral agencies, representing Indian NGOs in world fora, responding to national emergencies etc. Broadly speaking, this role played by the CEO's office, ranges between policy interventions and programme implementations.

†Work on policy issues
†Work with Planning Commission
†Reproductive & Child Health (RCH)
†Relationship with WHO, World Bank and other UN Agencies

4. The Village Health Workers Programme

The Health Workers Programme is an extremely important initiative of VHAI. It recognizes health workers as a rare group of people who in spite of their social, political and economic constraints are playing the role of change agents in their communities.

The recognition and enhancement of this important force now becomes even more essential in the light of their new emerging roles and responsibilities after the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution of India.
Followings are the main components of the Health Workers’ Programme of the Unit:

•Bringing out Health Workers’ Newsletter ‘Hamari Chitthi Aapke Naam’ (HCAN) The news letter addresses needs of over 100,000 Village Health Workers directly associated with VHAI on a continuous and regular basis. HCAN is brought out by VHAI and State VHAs in 19 languages including Hindi and English. It regularly updates the health workers with practical health information and developmental issues in simple language.

•Health Workers as Panchayat Members Special efforts are made for health education of health workers who are also members of Panchayats. They are also given orientation on developmental issues. VHAI’s ‘Panchayati Raj Manual’, published earlier is proving to be a very useful tool in this respect.

•Use of various media forms: VHAI uses a variety of approaches in Health Workers’ Programmes such as trainings, conventions, development of audio visuals etc.

•Health Workers Conventions : The Unit coordinates with the Division of Community Based Health and Development for organizing regional and State level conventions of Health Workers which give them a unique opportunity for sharing experiences and mutual learning.

5. State VHAs and Health Workers Unit

State VHAs details about which are given separately under State VHAs, are the most important arms of VHAI. There are 27 State VHAs in the country. The State VHAs Unit is the first reference point in VHAI for all the State VHAs in the country.

The Unit maintains constant touch with all the State VHAS, associates and leading NGOs all over the country. It keeps updated records of existing State VHAS, eg, their board, constitution, membership, and all other organizational matters.
It also provides guidance, especially to the newly formed State VHAs on the above matters. Important functions of State VHAs which works under direct supervision of the Chief Executive are:

•Setting up of new State VHAs Setting up new State VHAs in Haryana, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Pondicherry and western islands of Amindiwi and Minicoy, the only remaining states is under consideration.
•Strengthening State VHAs by way of providing guidance on statutory matters, management, and other technical support as well as assisting them financially in the initial years .
•Helping the Chief Executive in coordination of specific projects like 'Shehjar’ and EyeCare projects in J&K, activities of new State VHAs like Sikkim etc.
•Coordination with other Divisions for capacity building of State VHAs.
•Specific activities on RCH
•Disaster Management: The Unit also assists the Chief Executive in various activities related to relief and rehabilitation activities under project ‘Aparajita’ in Orissa.
•Reports, Proposals, documents: In relation to work with State VHAs, the Unit is also responsible for writing periodical progress reports of various programmes which are implemented jointly with the State VHAs and submitting the same to the funding agencies concerned. It also participates in preparation of various project proposals for State VHAs as per their need and request.

6. Providing core thrust to grassroots initiatives through innovations and expansion

One of the major area of work is providing core thrust in VHAI's grassroot level initiatives like khoj project in North and North Easten States.

Shehjar project in Jammu and Kashmir, urban health project in Greater Noida and project in Greater Noida and project Aprajita which addresses long term rehabiliation needs of cyclone affected people in Orissa.

†Shehjar Project in Jammu & Kashmir
†Project Aparajita
†State VHAs and Health Workers Programmes

Development Communication

VHAI is one of the largest publishers and developers of communication material in the health and development sector. VHAI’s user-friendly, well-researched and low cost publications include books for adults, children and adolescents, research study reports, periodic journals, newsletters, manuals, audio-visual material, posters and flip charts in English, Hindi and other Indian languages.

They are recognized and widely used in the developing world by a cross section of people, including policy makers, researchers, academicians, health professionals, trainers, community health workers and the general public.

VHAI’s focuses on areas where health and development materials are few or non-existent and selects a medium most suited to the region and target audience. VHAI also maintains its own design studio, printing press and an in-house photo bank.

Publications in the year 2006-07

VHAI’s printed material is fairly popular and of a high standard. The organization has established itself as the largest publisher of health education material in India. Some important VHAI publications this year were:

• Living a Healthy Life Starts Today: A Guide for Adolescents (English): This publication is attractively designed and packaged to target a most vulnerable group – adolescents, as the country stands poised on the brink of a massive economic boom, urban development and increased success stories of young people in all fields. This book through high-quality photographs and graphics provides invaluable healthy lifestyle tips and guidelines for urban adolescents and young professionals. The concepts of healthy diet, physical activity and substance abuse are comprehensively covered.
• WHO Booklet on NGOs (English): This booklet commissioned by WHO Geneva is a tool to support and facilitate further involvement and participation of NGOs in promoting health at the global, regional, country, community and institutional levels. It will also serve as a basis for strengthening and focusing on the ongoing collaboration between WHO and the NGOs. The Action Framework outlined in the booklet will provide a broad plan for key actions to build and shape comprehensive programmes and specific objectives on health promotion.
• HIV/AIDS Counselling Manual for Health Workers (English): This is a revised version of a previous VHAI publication and is an informative, handy and easy-to-use manual on HIV/AIDS for use by counsellors, peer educators, health workers and professionals. It provides comprehensive information and is an illustrative guide to the background, risk factors, vulnerable groups, treatment options, support and caring measures for people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Kaleidoscope (English): This book published in association with South South Solidarity focuses on issues that affect the interests of South Asian countries. It addresses the health sector and also strives to build a platform on which to bring to the forefront, the emerging concerns and priorities of these countries – like rising population, fast-developing economies, wide urban-rural disparities – and possible ways by which they might be addressed by their respective governments.
• Anubhav Series: Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra and Karuna Trust (English): These latest additions to the Anubhav series provided information and greater understanding on the far-reaching initiatives of two voluntary trusts based in BR Hills, Karnataka – VGKK and Karuna Trust. Efforts have been made in these documentations to emphasize the background, the challenging circumstances and significant achievements of these organizations working on health and development.
• PACS: Learnings and Case Studies (English): This publication is an attempt to document key learnings and successful case studies by the PACS-Parivartan project teams working in the most backward blocks of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgrah. It provides inspiring accounts of the trends, processes, and patterns of change among community dwellers, women’s groups, youth groups, Panchayat groups and health workers following the implementation of the PACS programme.

Other Publications

Other publications brought out this year included:
• The VHAI Annual Report 2005-06
• ICDHI Monograph on Urban Health
• Hamari Chitthi Aapke Naam (newsletter) on Disaster Mitigation (English and Hindi)
• Peer Educators Manual (Hindi and Oriya)
• Abhilasha (newsletter) on Maternal and Child Health (English and Hindi)
• Health for the Millions (4 double issues) on Public Private, Non-profit Sector Partnership in health, 2 general issues, and an update on health and development status
• DFID – HIV/AIDS (telespot)
• Better Eye Care (Urdu)
• Better Child Care (Urdu)
• VHAI Calendar
• JSY Helpline Brochure
• Cancer and Diabetes ( Malayalam)
• HIV/AIDS Health Workers Manual (Tamil)
• UPVHA Annual Report 2005-06

Forthcoming Publications
Books due to be published soon are:

HIV/AIDS Control Programme

Objectives:

The project was implemented in 6 selected districts of low prevalence in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Rajasthan through Panchayati Raj Institutions with the support of Programme Management Organization Department for International Development U.K Supported HIV/AIDS Programmes in India.

The basic project strategy was to sensitize & strengthen PRI members through peer educators to take up HIV/AIDS prevention activities in rural communities. The assumption here is that PRI members will be available to come forward for this work. In brief the project strategy will be
• Orientation of Elected Panchayati Raj Institutions on HIV/AIDS
• Training of Peer Educators
• Care & Support for people living with HIV/AIDS

Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme

Monitoring of Implementation of Malaria Control Measures under Rengali Irrigation Project Implemented by CDMO Dhenkanal & supported by JBIC

JBIC is supporting the construction of Left Bank Canal system in Dhenkanal district of Orissa under the Rengali irrigation project. VHAI had carried out a detailed malaria impact assessment of this project. Following the submission of VHAI’s report, malaria mitigation measures to be implemented by CDMO Dhenkanal became part of Irrigation Project Phase II.

VHAI is given the responsibility for monitoring of these measures and provide hand holding support to CDMO Dhenkanal. As the coordinating & monitoring agency VHAI has the following role to ensure effective implementation of the programme:

1. Monitoring & facilitating coordination for the individual components of the scheme (as given in project proposal) with analysis, recommendations or counter measures to be taken for effective implementation of the activities.
2. Monitoring of Vector-control Measures involving communities/NGOs, provision of bed nets, creation of revolving funds mechanism to ensure sustainability of the activities and the O&M of the hatcheries.
3. Concurrent analysis, evaluation & reporting of the activities simultaneously, to extract conclusions to plug the shortcomings & enhance effectiveness of the project.

Project Achievements
• 1800 PRI members of 6 blocks were sensitized and their capacity strengthened so as to actively participate & promote HIV/AIDS control activities in their area.
• 900 Peer Educators trained so as to work for behaviour change among youths.
• Need-based communication material including a six-episode radio programme “Zindagi Gale Lagaley” developed and 2 episodes broadcasted from 5 AIR stations i.e. Indore, Itanagar, Patana, Jodhpur and Bhubaneswar. A one-hour - “Zindagi Ki Rah Par” was also developed and used for awareness programmes in the community.
• A large number of people, especially youths became more aware of different aspects of HIV/AIDS including mode of spread, prevention, available services, cost and socio-economic impact of the disease.
• 16 non-governmental secondary care institutions were sensitized & motivated to incorporate Care & support services for people living with HIV/AIDS in their ongoing activities thus improving the access of PLHAs to quality health care.
• A replicable strategy was developed for involving PRI institutions in HIV/AIDS control activities.

Assessment
Examining the details of the project and results of two surveys, especially the baseline, brought out several interesting facts:

Many people had heard of HIV/AIDS (almost 60% of the population surveyed) but the knowledge was superficial. They had heard of the term but had no understanding of what it was about. They knew very little about how it was spread but not much about how they could protect themselves and their loved ones. Only just over a quarter of those surveyed knew that HIV could be passed from a pregnant infected mother to her new child. Similarly the relationship between STI’s and HIV were a closed book to the population.

More than half the population believed that mosquitoes spread HIV and naturally thought that preventing being bitten was an effective way of protecting themselves. Because casual contact was considered a source of danger by close to half the population, they were very un-accepting of persons living with the virus.

Other similar fallacies were common. This did not imply that the population was foolish but merely that the messages they had been exposed to were singularly inadequate. The correct message, therefore, is not reaching the periphery, they have heard of HIV/AIDS but only the name !

The age distribution of the information with the community was also noteworthy. The youth knew more than the older persons. This is important because it is still the elders in the villages who are the decision makers and village leaders. This group knows very little about the disease and no messages seem to have reached them. It is no wonder that the village community does not initiate action to prevent HIV infection nor give its approval to efforts to spread the message. It is therefore important that the older persons in the village, especially the decision makers and the leaders be adequately informed. PRI involvement must be taken as a priority focus as they can initiate action.

The difference between the knowledge levels in men and women were not very significant. Women were interested and could attain similar levels of knowledge if care was taken to ensure that they formed a part of the community level interaction. Their literacy levels were lower, but their understanding was as good as their menfolk. If treated with respect, they would not lag behind.

Also, It was not the level of understanding or “intelligence” that limited effective communication, it was the inability of the so-called communicators to explain in terms understandable to the village community, that made the efforts ineffective.

The VHAI effort has, therefore, demonstrated that not only is it important to carry the message to the most distant community, but that it can be done. It has also been proven in countless studies that education to bring about a sustained change needs to be reinforced by repeated doses of inputs.

Learnings:
• Awareness messages must go beyond naming the disease, and the evaluation of an awareness programme must similarly assess attitude and not merely parroted knowledge.
• Attitude change and the dispelling of myths regarding the modes of spread of HIV will contribute greatly to minimising stigma and discrimination.
• The older generation must be informed about the disease so that they can initiate and encourage community action to prevent the spread of disease
• It is possible to bring about a very significant change in levels of awareness, real knowledge, and positive attitudes with a focused programme initiated with community participation.

Truckers Project in Punjab

VHAI in collaboration with Punjab VHA is working with truckers and their families “To increase the knowledge of target population on HIV/AIDS/STDs, promote safe sexual diseases, right use of condom and establishing mobile clinics there by reducing the incidents of STD” in the districts of Patiala, Ropar and Fatehgarh Sahib of Punjab.

This project also involves drivers, cleaners and truck Drivers and the families of the truck drivers for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and care/counseling and treatment of opportunistic ailments of the infected in the project area.

As part of the activities, a -help group KIRAN (Knowledge for Information Rights, Advocacy and Network) was set up during a workshop on the Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS.

This workshop was attended by PLWHA & their families. This group has been set up to bring HIV-positive persons on one platform for addressing their grievances and fighting for their rights.

Prerana

Prerana is an initiative for strengthening the Knowledge base and creating awareness among the adolescents on HIV/AIDS related issues. The project is covering adolescents (11-19 years of age group) in 5 gram panchayats of Kujanga Block in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa.

Though the project initially aimed to cover only school-going and school dropouts, the impact of the project is seen on parents, teachers, anganwadi workers, government health functionaries, members of self-help groups and community at large. The adolescents have been empowered as their access to information, services and awareness on RCH and HIV/AIDS related issues have increased tremendously and systematically.

More than 400 school dropouts and 1,000 school-going adolescents are receiving this facility. The adolescents and the youths are now enabled to improve their socio-economic conditions through the support received towards capacity building and livelihood support. More than 210 adolescents have been benefited through this initiative.

Health Promotion

“Health promotion is an organized way of going about improving the health of a population. It is based on the assumption that through improving the health of the population, the health of individuals within the population will benefit.”

An important aspect of health promotion is enabling people to have greater control over their health. Health promotion not only involves the prevention of disease, but it also seeks to go beyond this. It creates an appreciation of the importance of health as an end in itself.

After the launch of the VHAI Health Promotion Programme in March 2006, work started in the first phase in 5 states – Kerala, Orissa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. The teams selected rural and urban schools within their project areas and health promotion activities comprised awareness campaigns workshops, quiz sessions, parent-teacher interactions, health corners, health diaries, sports events and inviting local celebrities as resource persons. The VHAI health promotion team at Delhi and the state teams in different settings are also working to develop different types of IEC materials like books, periodicals, posters, traditional games, questionnaires, and information dossiers on health promotion.

In the first week of April 2007, VHAI organized a capacity-building workshop for state partners, titled, “Building Health Promoting Schools and Communities” in Orissa. The agenda of the meeting was to orient some participants on the innovative programmes being executed by the Orissa team, and give them an exposure to other state participants in order to enable them to improvise their programmes and share their views, experiences and challenges. The Sikkim VHA team also joined this orientation workshop with the aim of launching a similar health promotion programme.

HP Activities conducted and IEC materials developed during the year were:

• Information dossiers on health promotion for the 5 state partners.
• Distribution of health promotion material in the form of select news articles, clippings and WHO publications on chronic diseases.
• A detailed, well-researched questionnaire for school students on healthy habits.
• A children’s snakes and ladders game on diet and physical activity and a booklet on healthy diet in Malayalam
• Formation of health clubs and health committees in schools, trainings for volunteers and parent-teacher interactive sessions on healthy practices.
• Development of student health cards and health diaries for periodic monitoring of healthy habits.
• Youth day celebrations on health, promotion of traditional games and exhibitions on chronic diseases.
• Provision of water and sanitation infrastructure to select schools.
• Design and production of charts and posters on chronic diseases and health
promotion.
• Production of colour panels on health promotion.

VHAI PAT & APPLE PROJECT - Partnership Against Tobacco & Action for Policies, Politics, Legislation, and Execution
A 14-month tobacco control programme – VHAI PAT & APPLE Project has been launched under the Bloomberg Global Initiative. The project will be implemented across five locations in India – Delhi, Assam, Kerala, Orissa and Rajasthan from August 2007 – October 2008.

The project will be implemented across five locations in India – Delhi, Assam, Kerala, Orissa and Rajasthan. It will a coordinated campaign with other BGI partners like HRIDAY-SHAN/ AFTC, Healis-Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India.

The project will strive to:

• build a strong, rooted and participatory campaign for tobacco control.
• implement a hard-hitting campaign programme through policy advocacy at the national and state levels.
• focus on coalition-building and networking with like-minded groups.
• conduct capacity building of VHAI network and monitoring and reporting of legislative violations at local levels.

The main activities under the project in coordination with other BGI partners will be:

• Capacity Building
• Policy Advocacy
• Networking and Mobilization
• National and State Resource Centres
• Mainstreaming of Tobacco control programmes

National and International Representation
GYM 2006, Agra

The HPDC team represented VHAI at the Global Youth Meet on Health 2006 at Agra in November 2006, organized by Hriday-Shan. The Director, HPDC addressed the audience and made a presentation at a panel discussion on “Increasing Community Awareness on Diet and Physical activity”. She also conducted a “Skill Building Workshop on Nutrition in School Settings” for participating school students.

Conference on Climate Change, Penang, Malaysia

The Director, HPDC participated in the training, “Climate Change, Adaptation and Disaster Prevention in South East Asia” co-organized by the Consumer’s Association of Penang and Diakonie Emergency Aid, Germany in December 2006 and made a presentation on VHAI’s initiatives in Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction

Disaster Management

Aparajita Andamans Project
The giant tsunami waves, triggered by a massive earthquake off Sumatra in Indonesia, smashed into the Indian coastline on the morning of 26th December 2004, inducing tragedy in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It will be long remembered for the distressingly high percentage of population and resource loss.

VHAI’s response to this massive disaster was immediate. A team along with relief material was quickly dispatched to the affected areas and the first phase of rehabilitation began in earnest, which included support to vulnerable families; supply of boats and nets to the fishing community; supply of critical inputs to the farmers; restoration of ICDS centres/ play schools; construction of community centres and crèches; and provision of medical care.

In the initial phase of its rehabilitation initiatives, VHAI supported 312 vulnerable families. Of these, 208 families were provided support for reviving their petty trade. Seventy-two families were small artisans and 32 had aged and physically/ mentally challenged family members. Most of the families supported under petty trade have done well and expanded their business. A very simple survey proforma has been developed to assess the progress of the petty traders. The data shows that most of the petty traders are earning a profit of Rs 5000/- to Rs 8000/- per month. All of them have bank accounts and regular deposits.

Encouraged by this success, VHAI has supported another 44 vulnerable families in South Andaman, all of whom are either headed by women or have physically challenged and aged family members.

Support to Self-Help Groups:

As one of the important goals for rebuilding the lives of the tsunami-affected people was to help them regain their lost confidence, self-reliance and self-respect, VHAI formed 20 SHGs in Little Andaman. Many of these groups have been linked with banks and have been successful in generating income and expanding their businesses. Seeing the success of these groups, many women came forward and with the support of VHAI, formed their own SHGs. During the year 2006-07, 20 new women’s self-help groups were identified and supported. All these groups have set up micro enterprises like small restaurants, snack and juice centres, dry fish businesses, embroidery/ tailoring centres, photocopying services, etc.

Support to Fisher Folk:

To date, VHAI has supported 127 fishermen’s families, of which 91 families were supported with fibre engine-fitted boats, nets and other fishing gear. The remaining families have constructed their boats with government subsidy, where VHAI has supported them with engines, nets and other fishing gear. During June-November 2006, a survey of 64 fishermen’s families supported by VHAI revealed that their average family income ranges from Rs 20000/- to Rs 25000/- per month.

To counter the problems arising from the damage caused to the cold storage unit, 12 500 litre deep freezers have been provided to the women’s self-help groups in order to prevent distress sales of their catch. As a means towards a secured future, certain initiatives have been taken, such as the formation of a fishermen’s society, which is registered with the appropriate authority. In order to cope with the future emergencies, VHAI in collaboration with the United Insurance India Ltd has insured all the boats provided to the fishermen. Further, the fishermen have also been insured under the accidental insurance policy.

Vocational Training:

The youth constitutes 40% of the population in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is not possible for the government to provide employment for all in the public sector. The following vocational trainings have been imparted by VHAI, with an objective to enable the trainees to earn their livelihoods with dignity:

• A Computer Education Centre was set up at Hut Bay, in technical collaboration with ET& T’s premier institute, the Computer Education & Training Centre.
• A six-month diploma course in Computer Software Technology (DCST) has been designed for the trainees. So far, 180 trainees have qualified. A placement cell has also been established and is managed by the trainees.
• A vocational training centre for tailoring and embroidery was started at Hut Bay in June 2005 for tsunami-affected adolescent girls and women. So far 60 women have undergone the six-month training.

Health Intervention:

After the initial massive health support in Little Andaman, a full-fledged medical OPD functions on a regular basis with the help of experienced doctors and nurses at Netaji Youth Club, in Hut Bay. Initially, hundreds of patients came to the centre everyday to avail of the free treatment. The OPD at the Aparajita field office, Kali Nagar, which still functions on all weekdays, provides primary treatment and medicine to more than 40 patients a day. The nursing staff organizes health camps in the evening for 5 days a week by rotation in different campsites. The project has 17 volunteers who are trained in first aid and administration of medicines for minor aliments.

Community Centre:

The devastating tsunami of 2004 not only destroyed houses, but also damaged almost all public buildings. Government offices, youth clubs and community meeting places were washed away. VHAI-Aparajita has constructed 5 community centres in intermediate campsites in different locations in Little Andaman. These halls can accommodate 50 to 60 people, are well-furnished and can be used for community meetings and social functions. One of these centres is currently being used by the local administration as a godown to store essential commodities. The other four community centres are regularly used for social functions like weddings and birthday parties.

Community-based Disaster Preparedness Plan:

VHAI, in collaboration with the Andaman and Nicobar Administration, has prepared a disaster mitigation contingency plan for four Little Andaman Panchayats. The entire community was involved in this process, through village-based micro planning and hazard mapping. The process attempts to create a database for an analysis of the capacity and vulnerability of the community.

After the tsunami, there has been an increased awareness of need for protection against risk for poor households. Insurance reduces the vulnerability of households and neutralizes the impact of household losses that could exacerbate their poverty situation. In this direction, VHAI has provided nets and boats to more than 90 fishermen; over 150 families have benefited through Self Help Entrepreneurship development; 185 families with petty trade; and more than 700 families have been covered through various rehabilitation activities. VHAI has now initiated a tie up with the United Insurance Company Ltd. so that all the fishermen are insured against loss and damage of boats in times of emergency. The assets of some of the petty traders and SHGs were also insured under the standard Fire and Special Perils Policy (Material Damage). Besides this, 56 beneficiaries are covered against accident, disability and death for a very low premium.

Realizing that communicating information about disaster preparedness at the right time to the right people is far more important than storing right and accurate information at any level, VHAI has prepared audio and audio-visual CDs in local dialects with popular songs to promote mass awareness on disaster preparedness.

Focus areas for future intervention:

The project is currently all set to enter the development stage, in order for the team to carry the work forward. Natural disasters throw up challenges not only of rehabilitation of the people, but also of rebuilding their lives by way of creating the necessary infrastructure for basic amenities. The project strives hard to provide sustainable healthcare and livelihood to vulnerable communities as also to equip them towards reducing their susceptibility in the future.

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Contact Us
Voluntary Health Association Of India

B-40, Qutab Institutional Area,
South of I.I.T.,
New Delhi - 110 016
Phone - 011-26518071-72, 41688152-53