The quality of service of public health care in rural areas is very poor and continues to decline. Several studies reveal that most poor people depend on private health services, often slipping deeper into poverty as a result. MYRADA’s analysis of loans taken by SAGs bears this out.
Our early interventions in the area of health has been in the form of health camps and focus on drinking water and sanitation. Poor sanitation and lack of potable drinking water is a major cause of poor health indicators in rural areas. Interventions have focussed on the provision of drinking water and sanitation facilities in the areas where it works. As with every intervention, here too MYRADA works with appropriate institutions to manage this resource. Its experiences of working with village sanitation committees can be found here RMS papers 12 and RMS papers 21.
Over the past ten years, MYRADA has also emerged as a major intervener in HIV/AIDS prevention and has pioneered the community based approach to HIV risk reduction. Beginning with an intervention to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS in Belgaum district in 1994, we have today fostered the formation of groups of people living with HIV as well as those with high risk of exposure to the disease viz, sex workers, etc. RMS papers 42 and RMS papers 45
Our current interventions in the health sector include improving quality of and access to primary health care, improving food and nutrition security, prevention. For details of ongoing health programmes click here
Past interventions in this area have included the provision of environmental sanitation, drainage and sanitation facilities in villages and provision of potable drinking water and HIV prevention activities.