Deepam Educational Society For Health Receives Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant For Initiative In India

Media contact
Saraswathi Sankaran, Ph.D., Executive Director
Deepam Educational Society for Health (DESH)
Phone: 91.44.4995580

CHENNAI, India -- Deepam Educational Society for Health (DESH), a non-governmental organization that promotes health awareness, has received a US$1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help fund the Reproductive and Child Health Program that will reach more than 100,000 families, 104 workplaces and 260 schools in six cities in India.

The three-year program will increase awareness of and action around such health concerns as reproductive tract infections, cervical cancer and HIV/AIDS. The World Health Organization estimates that between 8 and 10 million men, women and children in Asia will have been infected with HIV, with India and Thailand reporting the largest number of cases.

"There are more than 100 million people living in India's urban slums – two-thirds of whom are children, youth and women who are less literate, lack basic knowledge of safe health practices and have little or no access to health information or services," said DESH Executive Director, Dr. Saraswathi Sankaran.

"Women in India need to be empowered to take control of their health and that of their children," Sankaran added. Hence DESH's programs are planned in three phases: information and awareness; empowerment with accountability; and collective, community action. Sankaran explained that the expected outcome of DESH projects would be that some informed and empowered persons form powerful action groups and collectively work for community welfare in a sustained manner.

The DESH Reproductive and Child Health Program will be directly implemented by DESH in Chennai as a demonstration unit and by 50 community-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in and around five cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin and Coimbatore. According to Sankaran, a DESH sample survey conducted among women living in two out of the three slum settlements selected for this project in Chennai showed:
  • 48 percent did not know the effects of too many pregnancies,
  • 38 percent did not have any knowledge of family planning methods,
  • Only 3 percent used condoms,
  • 36 percent do not administer Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) if the child has diarrhea, and
  • 69 percent did not know about self-examinations for breast cancer.
DESH, which is a national model for other health programs, uses participatory methods such as skits, role-plays, brainstorming sessions, educational materials like flip charts and case studies to create awareness and stimulate collective/community action on sensitive health topics. "Our aim is to foster the strength inherent in all communities to convert knowledge into action," said Sankaran.