July 2019 Newsletter Volume - 7

T.H.I.S
Underprivileged Pregnant women
The Underprivileged Pregnant women of Tribal villages In India every 8
minute a woman dies during pregnancy & child birth. Sadly these deaths
are largely preventable mainly due to poor access to health services. There
is lack of hospitals to provide pregnancy care & safe delivery services at
affordable price. So pregnant women from poor communities are deprived
of basic tests, medicine & nutrition, putting their & their baby lives at
risk. T.H.I.S project is working towards addressing this problem through
network hospital Philadelphia community hospital, salur.
T.H.I.S project provides safe pregnancy awareness and delivery facilities
to poor womenproject
T.H.I.S in the 3 villages adopted in tribal areas of Salur. This
includes medical checkups, counselling support, medicines, tests,
nutritional supplements, delivery care etc. More than 10 women have
availed services through Philadelphia community hospital, salur.
T.H.I.S improves lives of 3 ADOPTED VILLAGES:
Tribal poor habitations — slums and similar underserved settlements —
are characterized by overcrowding, environmental pollution, and lack of or
inadequate access to basic water, sanitation, health and nutrition services.
Populations living in non-notified slums are even more vulnerable as these
settlements are not recognized by authorities and, hence, usually remain
outside the purview of health, nutrition, food subsidy, and other civic
services. Food inflation, meagre wages, cash-based economy, and
involvement in strenuous manual work in informal/unorganized sector,
unprotected by labour laws of maternity leave, heighten the risk of under
nutrition among urban underprivileged women, thus adversely affecting
their future and that of their children.

T.H.I.S project will help prevent needless deaths of mothers by ensuring

that at least poor pregnant women are blessed with healthy babies. Given
the key role that mothers play in the health of their families, the program
will also contribute towards improving the overall quality of healthcare in
the 3 villages adopted tribal areas of Salur starting with one mother-baby
pair at a time.

The importance of maternal sanitation during pregnancy for birth. Poor

sanitation practices can promote infection and induce stress during
pregnancy and may contribute to adverse pregnancy. T.H.I.S project
aimed to assess whether poor sanitation practices were associated with
increased risk, such as preterm birth and low birth weight in a Tribal
villages of Salur. Tribal villages of Salur, defecation in the open (poor
sanitation) during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of any T.H.I.S project nurses provides awareness to the tribal villagers
adverse pregnancy of preterm birth than the use of a latrine. The women
(1) Frequency of consumption of milk and pulses or beans in the
who defecated in the open may have shared some other unknown
characteristic (residual confounding) that was actually responsible for past 30 days (weekly, occasionally, and never).
their increased risk of an adverse pregnancy, between poor sanitation and (2) Number of days for which iron folic acid tablets were taken
adverse pregnancy. Appropriate public health interventions can then be during pregnancy.
designed to reduce the burden of adverse pregnancy among women living
(3) Receipt of a drug for intestinal parasites during pregnancy.
in Tribal where there is limited access to adequate sanitation.
(4) Receipt of supplementary nutrition and nutrition and health
education during pregnancy by hospital nurses.

Adopt a pregnant mother from

tribal village in Salur
When you donate to this program, a needy
pregnant woman will receive care through her
pregnancy till her child is two years old.

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 Underprivileged Pregnant women
The phase of motherhood is one among the most important ones in the life of a woman. Considering the cultural and moral values of Salur, being
a mother is nothing less than something sacred. Pregnant women die needlessly every year due to pregnancy or due to child-birth related problems.
One out of every 70 Indian women who reach reproductive age dies because of pregnancy, child-birth or unsafe abortions. The causes for such
plight of women, especially in rural India, are numerous. Lack of basic and hygienic facilities in the health centres, poor transportation facilities,
caste discrimination and lack of accountability over maternal mortality are among the few. Many times the women are diagnosed of the
complications very late either due to lack of medical facilities or due to irresponsible behaviour on the part of health-workers and doctors. Donors
should come forward to provide help to organizations so that even poor class of the society can enjoy the safe and hygienic facilities After all, in a
family, success cannot be achieved without the contribution of women, and to have their contribution we need to ensure their well-being
desperately. Ultimately, T.H.I.S. Project aims to create an improved environment to support better pregnancy outcomes to improve the next
generation. Since low-birth weight babies have a higher future risk of diabetes and hypertension, improving birth outcomes in Tribal areas will not
only improve maternal and child health, but also minimize the burden of future chronic diseases. “It’s important to be strategic about how we
integrate educational approaches into our interventions for pregnant women.” He says educating pregnant women can improve knowledge about
safe hygiene practices and good hygiene behaviour, and improve birth outcomes.

Role of ANM in Underprivileged Pregnant women

Auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) community-based midwives have the potential and capable to help and prevent many of these
deaths. ANM’s are community health workers who provide pregnancy counselling and health education to women, accompany
women to skilled delivery care, encourage healthy behaviours, recognize mother and baby danger signs, and promote
immunizations and proper newborn care.

T.H.I.S (Tribal Health in Salur)

In Partnership with Philadelphia Community Hospital, Salur
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 Free diabetic & hypertension drive in adopted villages of T.H.I.S
Diabetes and hypertension is affecting the tribal population of Salur at
an alarming rate. Tribal population above 40 years of age from various
tribal places. Three adopted villages of THIS project were screened for
diabetes, by checking the random blood glucose levels and blood
pressure, body mass index, dietary patterns, and physical activity levels
were also recorded. Their knowledge about diabetes was also assessed
by a set of questions. People who had among the various risk factors
smoking, alcohol and positive family history for both males and females
were found to have a statistically significant association for both
diabetes and hypertension. The knowledge of diabetes among the tribal
population was very poor. None of them were aware about the normal
levels of blood sugar and the risk factors.

Does work with great love.

Sankili Vijaya born in Maruvada village in
1978 to Mr Sankili James & Mrs Krupavathi.
She finished her course in MPHW (F)
(Multipurpose health worker female) in the
year 2000. She married Mr Morcha Ramesh
and has two children. She joined Philadelphia
Community Hospital in salur in 1 August
2008 and is looking after THIS project from
the time it was born. She goes in to the
community and takes care of the children as
their own mother feeding them. Mrs Vijaya
says “many children are underprivileged and I
am happy to serve them like a mother and I feel
it as a privilege given to me by our Lord Jesus
Christ”.

FREE DENTAL CHECKUP FOR 400 CHILDREN ON DOCTORS DAY

On the Doctors Day (July 1), Philadelphia Community Hospital has
conducted a free Dental check-up for 400 children in Salur urban
school. Dr Anuradha Edward gave an awareness speech to the
children about how dental problems occur. They were enlightened
about the anatomy of the teeth, primary and permanent dentition and
the caries formation process and taught the techniques of brushing.
Checkup was done for each child individually and the problems
recorded and informed to the concerned teachers and parents to
follow-up and treat them. The school authorities were very
welcoming and the teachers helpful in organizing and arranging the
dental camp. Though it was a hectic day, we left satisfied to have left
smiles on the children’s faces and to have taught the importance of
regular Dental check-up and forming good habits at a tender age.
hms201

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 Need your Helping hands
Thorika Murali is from Kareduvalasa village in Rambhadrapuram Mandal, Vizianagaram
District. He is 13 years of age and lost his father at the age of 8 years. His father Late Venkat
Rao was a migrant labourer in Chennai. He was suffering with tuberculosis and died in Chennai
when he was at work. His Mother is a house wife and she is from a very backward tribal family.
She admitted Murali and his brother in a government hostel in Vizianagaram. As she was a
migrant worker along with the husband, she was not registered for 100 days employment through
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), now she goes
as substitute for work in NREGS Scheme. She earns about 50/- per day as she work on behalf of
some other registered women. Murali stays in a small hut in a very pathetic condition along with
his mother and elder brother. This year he is attending Public Examination (10th Class) and want
to prove his life and earn money for the family. In 2017 in his school there was a medical camp held
by the government of Andhra Pradesh for leprosy screening. The government doctor identified
white patches on his skin and test has shown positive as Hansen’s disease (Leprosy). The hostel
management removed him and was sent home. Now Murali was put on 12 month course and he
was taking medicine at home but discontinued his course of medication as he could not able to
bear the heat and the side effects of the medicine and was unable to have anything to eat. He
went through a very difficult time in his life. His mother couldn’t provide him either treatment or
anything else. Six months later he found that his left arm was deformed like a claw. He has
difficulty in using his left hand. He could not work or hold water with his fingers. When TLM
Salur came to know about Murali, our Staff went and met his mother and counselled her that her
son has leprosy and has deformity due to the disease. Since his mother couldn’t afford the surgery
or expenses that incur, Philadelphia Community Hospital supported him and provided three
months provisions for him and his mother. The people of their small village felt happy and
expressed that God has helped them through Philadelphia Community Hospital. Now he can
do all his work by himself and seeing this, his mother is very happy. She is grateful as well for a
great change in him. His family thanks Philadelphia Community Hospital for the Support they
have given to him. Mural’s mother says that the hope of her son’s surgery gives them a great joy
and happiness and they say that God has sent help in form of Philadelphia Community
Hospital. Murali’ family and the villagers thank us from the bottom of their heart. The Leprosy
mission will take the responsibility of educating him in the Vocational training centre in
Vizianagaram for a Diploma course and give him a job placement in a reputed corporate company.

Your generous contribution will make a difference to the lives of people affected by leprosy in India.

Payment by cheque : You can send your donations by cheque in favour of P L HOSPITAL, payable at Salur. Payment by NEFT payment: You can send your donations

through Transfer / NEFT: P L HOSPITAL, A/c no: 11370742563, State Bank of India, Salur branch (00914), IFS code: SBIN0000914

All donations to The Leprosy Mission Trust India are eligible for 50% tax relief under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 196 1.

Get Involved & Support Our Work

Help us to change lives for the better! Join us in the fight against leprosy and related diseases that affect the People of Andhra Pradesh

WORD OF THE MONTH

How to hear God’s voice. Does God speak to us?
Yes He does, all the time. The problem is, we want to hear what we want to hear.
One day two friends are walking on the cement pavement on a busy footpath in Mumbai. One friend put his hand in his trouser’s pocket took out
handful of change and drops them on the pavement.
Everyone around them stopped and turned. We want to hear what we want to hear. John 10: 27
‘’ My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me. God speaks to us all the time.
It is like Radio and Television waves. We don’t see them but they are there. We need to tune our mind and thoughts towards them.
Set aside 15 to 30 minutes, get rid of all the distractions, and immerse yourself in prayer. God will speak to you through
1. Your Bible 2. Through your thoughts or even 3. Your desires
4. Your circumstances or sometimes 5. Through someone God sends into your life. Amen

Email: healthcaresalur@gmail.com Website: tribalhealthcaresalur.weebly.com