Bhubaneswar: Yet another feather in Odisha’s cap, the State has won 3rd prize for Poster Presentation on “ASHA and Gaon Kalyan Samity led community activities during FANI” cyclone.
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government Of India conferred the award to Odisha at the 6th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations In Public Healthcare System in India held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from 16-18 November 2019.
The National Health Mission (NHM) adopted a three-pronged strategy for management of Cyclone Fani.
Pre-cyclone Preparedness:
Over 15 lakh people were evacuated.
All women with EDD within 15 days (a total of 1945 expecting women) were shifted to nearest Maternity Waiting Homes/Delivery Points.
As many as 745 Medical Relief Centres were operationised and 321 Mobile Health Teams were deployed.
Free sanitary napkins were distributed at all Cyclone Shelter Homes.
Rapid Response Teams were constituted for immediate action at the field level.
As many as 680 ambulances, 76 doctors and 234 paramedical staff were deployed for ensuring 24×7 services.
Adequate stock of essential medicines was provisioned at all Health facilities.
Dry food and 24×7 power backup was provisioned for three days.
During the Cyclone:
Immediately after the landfall, a massive rescue and response operation was launched.
State level Nodal Officers reached their respective districts and faced the cyclone at ground zero.
All health emergency services like ICU, Emergency OPD and Operation Theater continued to function even during the cyclone.
Of the 1945 expecting mothers, over 200 mothers delivered at health facilities during the cyclone.
At state headquarters, officials including Health Secretary, Directors and other officers kept continuous track with the districts.
Post-Cyclone Health Response:
As many as 7,515 ASHA workers and 1,544 village health committees were engaged in emergency community-level health intervention. Over 22,340 cleanliness drives were conducted and over 1.28 lakh water sources were sanitized.
As many as 778 medical relief camps were conducted and 270 Mobile health teams visited affected areas.
As many as 265 TV spots, 244 radio spots, and 82 newspaper advertisements were issued on public health messages. Counseling was also done by ASHA and AWW using leaflets at the village level.
Food safety officers were mobilized and mobile food quality testing units were deployed and 617 relief camps were inspected. Food served at relief camps was daily checked.
As many as 259 diesel generator sets were provided at health facilities.
As many as 3.97 million sanitary napkins were distributed.
For domestic level water disinfection, 31.2 million chlorine tablets in airtight containers were distributed.
As much as 215,000 kgs of bleaching powder was used for the disinfection of open wells. In the case of contaminated water bodies were flagged/ earmarked for non-use.
As many as 58,800 mosquito nets were distributed and 1 million mosquito nets were impregnated with long-lasting insecticides.
It may be pointed out here that the State’s journey towards Universal Health Coverage through BSKY (Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana) was also highly appreciated here at the summit.
