Health and Hygiene

Healthcare for all, focusing on preventive, diverse systems of health and medicine

This section features stories of initiatives ensuring healthcare for all. These are based on approaches that help prevent ill-health in the first place, including the provision of nutritional food, enabling an environment that is healthy, and so on. They include ensuring access to curative facilities to those who have conventionally not had such access. And they have stories of synergizing various health systems, traditional and modern, bringing back into popular use the diverse systems from India and outside including indigenous/folk medicine, nature cure, Ayurvedic, Unani and other such systems, and other holistic or integrative approaches. Community-based management and control of healthcare and hygiene, and ensuring accountability of the state’s responsibility towards citizens in health, would be part of the stories featured here.

Making Hand-Washing a Happy Hygiene Habit

To fight the threat of infectious diseases like diarrhea, Grampari has launched an innovative program for rural children, teaching them how to make hand washing a habit by putting themin charge and making it hands-on and fun!

There is a Cure

Chittorgarh shows the way to affordable healthcare - generic drugs at cost price.

Decentralising ration procurement in Odisha’s anganwadis

“Earlier there was delay in delivery of ration and rice near us. We could hardly give some lentils and rice to the children. However with money coming directly to our hands, we are trying to give best to the children,” says an anganwadi worker in Nuapada district.

Swasthya Swara : A Unique Community Health Solution

Swasthya Swara (Health Swara) plans to address rural community health issues through the use of mobile phones, and at the same time help in protection and distribution of ancient knowledge that the Vaids and other traditional practitioners possess, which is in danger of vanishing forever

The Grassroots Lokpal

How beneficiary-led monitoring of government-run services, such as ration shops and rural healthcare, functions in a few states.

Healing a Tradition

A low-tech online network connects traditional healers and patients in Bhopal