Hepatitis C is an emerging infection in India and an important pathogen causing liver disease. The common modalities of spread of hepatitis C infection are blood transfusion, injection drug use, unsafe therapeutic injections and health care related procedures. Estimated prevalence Hepatitis c virus infection in India is between 0.5 to 1.5 %.
With the help of Mylan Pharmaceuticals Team AIDENT has launched project MAHI (Mylan Aident Hepatitis Initiative) in 11 districts of Punjab, Haryana &UttaraKhand. Ludhiana, Amritsar, Bhatinda, Sanagrur, Faridkot in Punjab, Panipat, Karnal, Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad in Haryana and Udham singh Nagar in Uttrakhand. Covering around 800 villages with a conservative estimate of touching life’s of 24 lack population directly or indirectly. It is one of its first kind of intervention for Hepatitis under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is launched on such a big canvass. This project also aims to carry out evidence based advocacy to push forward the need of having a national policy framework to take care of this emerging challenge.
In these identified district we are working on three pronged strategies. First - Creating Awareness through Outreach activities which includes continuous IEC intervention as focusing on creating awareness regarding Heptaitis B & C and generating demand for its related services provided by government health services. These interventions have been designed around the findings of and concerns raised by the primary stakeholders during KAP study carried out in the initial part of the project. Secondly we carry out interpersonal communication with the primary stakeholders making them aware about the disease, its symptoms and the ways it can be prevented. This provide us an opportunity as well, to create a pool of volunteers amongst the villagers. This outreach activity also involves reaching out to PHC Officials, Asha Workers, ANM’s, Anganwadi Workers, Doctors and make them partners of the whole programme.
Thirdly - the outreach activities are followed by a health camp where Hepatitis B & C screenings would be done. During Such camps our team also do referral to reactive people to nearby government hospitals or any other preferred service providers and motivate them to continue with the treatment process.
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