SOCHARA Jubilee Publication - 3

Celebrating twenty years of community health journeys and public health action 1991 -2011- a SOCHARA Brochure .

The SOCHARA journey began when a few young doctors and allies from other professions dared to look beyond the world of medicine and medical care and attempted to evolve an alternative approach to health, care and well-being rooted in the community. Walking beyond the walls of a medical college into the unknown they laid the foundation of an innovative community of professionals and activists who facilitated community health and well being with an equity, rights and health determinants perspective. The brochure celebrates this unique experiment and highlights the vision and mission of SOCHARA today , its key initiatives and partnership, its contribution to new public health paradigm, significant milestones on its journey, its multidisciplinary team and circles of field mentoring organizations, associates, friends and partners and the plans to develop into a School of Public Health Equity and Action (SOPHEA).

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The story of the Community Health Learning Programme (CHLP) – Phase II (2008-2011).

CHC-SOCHARA, Bengaluru, started the community health fellowship scheme in 2003. The first phase of the scheme was from 2003 – 2006 and was reported earlier. The Phase two – the of this scheme now entitled - Community Health Learning Programme (CHLP) was spread over a three year period, from January 2008 – Dec. 2010.  Phase two enhanced the use of person centric and grounded community based, experiential learning approaches, with flexible learning objectives developed by interns and guided by mentors. Field visits and field placements provided a hands-on real life experience of engaging with communities, the public health systems and the underlying social determinants of health. Participatory, interactive methods of teaching help to reiterate the concept of reflective learning.

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Community Health: In search of alternate process – A report of a study-reflection-action-experiment by the Community Health Cell, Bangalore. (Revised in 2011)

This report of the learnings about the community health movement from the first two years of the CHCs experiment was first cyclostyled and distributed in 1987. It covered CHC’s growing understanding of community health in India and the early observation of the evolving movement dimensions. While outlining some tasks for the future the team also enumerated 10 axioms of community health emerging out of grounded Indian experience. This mimeographed publication is often referred to in SOCHARA and community health circles as ‘the red book’.

Today in the light of the development of health for all networking in India and the evolution of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (PHM India) and the Global People’s Movement this set of early reflections are even more significant today than they were, when first reported. As part of the SOCHARA Jubilee (1991-2011), these reflections have been republished with minor editorial revisions along with some key responses by fellows travelers in the community health movement in India.

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MAKKAL NALAVAZHVU IYAKKAM (Tamilnadu chapter of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan) 

While we welcome the use of the latest science and technology in the field of public health for the greater common good, and we welcome the Tamilnadu government’s commitment to the health of the people of Tamilnadu, we would like to raise concerns about the introduction of the pentavalent Vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) in Tamilnadu on a pilot basis and the process to introduce it. After considering many factors related to Pentavalent vaccine we urge the central government to reconsider the decision to introduce the pentavalent Vaccine from UIP and also urge the Tamilnadu government to put on hold the introduction.   While acknowledging the important role of the UIP vaccines in the control of vaccine preventable diseases, Makkal Nalavazhvu Iyakkam (MNI) believes that mere technological solutions without the corresponding / supporting socio-economic-political interventions cannot lead to health for ALL. Medical technology is only one in whole range of interventions at various levels and dimensions that are required for the achievement of Health for ALL.  MNI further believes that medical technology should be under “social control”. Its introduction, provisioning, monitoring and evaluation needs to be done with the people's welfare as the top most priority and not corporate or political pressure.  The health sector today is the field of struggle, with the private sector trying to capture as much of it as possible for profit. In this, the field of vaccines has seen very intense battles with the powerful multinational pharmaceutical industries trying to make inroads into the Indian market.

Janarogya Andolana - Karnataka (JAA - K),  Karnataka circle of State People's Health Movement (PHM), newsletter (March 2011, Vol 8)  is published by Community Health Cell - SOCHARA. This issue  covers  case studies and fact finding reports on the situation of  Bhangi community in Savanoor  (Haveri District) and murder of a Dalit Women, Honnamma,  in Tumkur.  JAAK has involved  Lokayukta and State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in addressing the isues of health and health care in Karnataka. The newsletter brings out a investigation report of Lokayukta on the drugs which were thrown on the way side in   in Haveri. Other complaints  submitted to Lokayukta are: 31 deaths in Bellary in the constitutency of the present health minister; case of child death in Davanagere; 3 dengue death cases in Jagaluru village of Davanagere District; the case of new born baby stolen from Vanivilas Government Hospital in Bangalore City.

Reports of the JAA - K activities in Districts throw light on the initiatives taken by JAAK members in  Davanagere,  Belagavi, Bellary,  Chitradugha and  Bagalakote districts.  Trainings held for the activists in  Chitradurga and Tumkur Districts,  Health and Human Rights training organised at Haveri for the JAAK activists and a capacity building session on maternal death audit too are reported.
 
Some colums throw light on the current  issues concernig helath in Karnataka which include  a brief write-up on  Karnataka State Public Health Bill, an editorial  comment on governments populist programme of distributing sarees  and  a guest column  on health and responsibility by Dr. C. R. Chandrasheka (NIMHANS). State SHRC's order to the government of Karnataka to look into the grievances of people on health is included in the newsletter. The three books on health in Kannada by Dr. Prakash Rao published by Kannada  Book Authority  are introduced in the newsletter.

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'Building Blocks' is the occasional newsletter of The Community Health Learning Programme (CHLP). The 2010 edition has been bought out. The newsletter contains reflections by the CHLP interns and alumni covering different dimensions of health and health related determinants.

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Dr. Ravi Narayan, senior Community Health Advisor, SOCHARA was invited to deliver the 16th Dr. K S Sanjivi endowment lecture at the Voluntary Health Services, (VHS) Chennai on 27th December 2010. The theme of his lecture was "Beyond Bio-medicine: exploring new paradigms in Community Health". The Hindu (28/12.2010) carried the following report.

CLICKHERE to download the clipping from The Hindu.

The Annual Activity Report 2009 – 10 consists of programmes and activities carried out during the period of April 1, 2009 – March 31, 2009, through Community Health Cell (Karnataka), C H C Extension Unit (Tamilnadu), Centre for Public Health and Equity (CPHE), CPHE Madhya Pradesh. Community Health Library and Information Centre (CLIC) supports SOCHARA activities, Civil Society, Public Health Professionals and Social Science Institutions through documentation and information dissemination on Community Health and Public Health.

CLICHERE to download the full report