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Proposal to Conduct Medical Camps at Govt. Schools (Sialkot) |
About
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Consultant Name |
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Abul Rehman Chairman - Spreading Smiles Organization
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Address |
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House No 2 Sublime Street behind UBL China Chowk Sialkot |
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Cell No. |
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+92324 9748440 |
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Website |
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www.spo.org.pk |
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Proposal |
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Proposal to Conduct Medical Camps at Govt. Schools (Sialkot) |
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Proposal Prepared |
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February 4, 2023 |
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Submitted by |
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Abul Rehman |
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Proposal Submitted on: |
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February 4, 2023 |
Project Justification
Child Health Issues in Pakistan
According
to the most recent United Nations data, Pakistan’s current population has
reached above two-hundred and twenty-six million as of October 2021. Making
Pakistan the fifth most populated country in the world. With a rapidly
increasing population, child health issues in Pakistan are also on the rise.
Child
health in Pakistan is one of the most challenging national issues that require
immediate attention. According to medical reports, one child dies every minute
due to diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia. They also reveal that
approximately 400,000 infants die during their first year of life each year.
Child health is mainly affected due to:
·
complications
due to premature birth
·
complications
during labor and delivery
·
infections
such as sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia
Complications
listed above lead to all the following child health issues in Pakistan:
1. Low-Birth Weight
Research
conducted in different hospitals in Peshawar, which studied causes of
low-birth-weight found that it is related to several cultural factors. These
risk factors include teenage pregnancy, old age pregnancy, poor maternal
health, anemia, and pregnancy history.
If
the mother experiences any of these issues, the child is likely to have low
birth weight. Children with low birth low-birth-weight often develop infections
in the first week of their lives and have difficulty surviving increasing
infant mortality rates.
2. Infectious Diseases
Infectious
diseases are the leading cause of death among children in Pakistan, accounting for
60% of all child deaths under five. The most common are neonatal infections,
diarrhea, polio, and pneumonia. Neonatal infections are those that can be
acquired from mother to child, in the birth canal, during childbirth, or after
birth. In most cases of neonatal infections, newborns don’t receive proper
treatment and die within the first month.
3. Malnutrition
Pakistan
is on the list of developing countries with the highest rates of stunting,
wasting, and underweight children. In Pakistan, the factors causing
malnutrition are mainly a poor diet that lacks essential vitamins and minerals
needed for growth and development. The absence of diversity in diet,
unavailability of certain foods, and high food prices are some reasons parents
can not provide a healthy diet to children in Pakistan. The symptoms of
malnutrition include stunted growth, fatigue, and underweight, fat, and muscle
loss. Poor maternal health can also cause malnutrition to develop in your
child.
4. Micronutrient Deficiencies
Children
who are unable to receive a healthy diet can develop several micronutrient
deficiencies, which have adverse effects on health and may also slow down the
growth of the body. Anemia is highly prevalent in children, and the reason is
primarily maternal anemia. Other than iron deficiency, children in Pakistan
also have zinc, Vitamin A, and D deficiencies. These nutrient deficiencies may
cause diseases like rickets and delayed growth.
Current Issues in Maternal and Child Health in
Pakistan
Pakistan
has a 75% newborn deaths rate related to poor maternal and newborn care
services? And the most despairing part is that the diseases and conditions
causing these deaths are easily preventable and treatable. But sadly, in
Pakistan, even basic necessities are out of reach for the mothers and babies
who need them the most. Some of the current issues in maternal and child health
in Pakistan are:
Unavailability of Basic Needs
Along
with a lack of affordable healthcare facilities, Pakistan has limited
availability of nutritious food and safe drinking water. When pregnant women
don’t get a nutrient-rich diet, including essential vitamins and minerals like
folic acid and iron, it can affect the child’s health, causing severe issues
like improper brain development and low birth weight.
There
are many hospitals in our country that provide high-quality medical facilities
for pregnant females and newborn children. But, unfortunately, the majority of
Pakistani females do not have the financial strength to seek professional help
for their health issues which eventually leads to problems in childbirth.
Lack of Awareness
Despite
the fact that education for females is not prohibited in Pakistan, women are
generally less educated than men. Moreover, even educated women do not have
enough awareness regarding family planning, prenatal care, healthy eating, and
conception use which causes various health conditions.
According
to a survey, Pakistan has a high fertility rate, high maternal and child
mortality rates, and a low rate of contraceptive use. The health ministry of
Pakistan has started many awareness campaigns that address these issues, but
little progress has been observed.
High Exposure to Diseases
Maternal
and child deaths result from limited access to immunization and poor maternal
and newborn care services. Premature birth complications, complications during
labor and delivery, and infections such as sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia
are common due to this reason. Many childbirths are conducted in an unequipped
setting by untrained midwives or nurses, ultimately resulting in higher chances
of infections and diseases in children.
Psychological Stress during Pregnancy
Honor
killings, domestic violence, rape, child marriages, harassment, and gender
discrimination are a few of the most common problems faced by women in Pakistan
on a daily basis. Due to the rise in these crimes, Pakistan has been ranked in
the list of most dangerous countries for women in 2021. It is obvious that
pregnant women dealing with any of these issues will not have healthy mental
health.
A
study shows that prenatal maternal stress can cause various complications that
can have long-term consequences for the newborn. High levels of stress in
pregnancy have been linked to increased chances of problems in childbirth as
well. The worst part is that psychological health is not given importance in
most households of our country, and the consequences are also blamed on the
women in the end.
Importance and Objectives of the Free Medical
Camp
Free
medical camps are set up with a sacred aim to bring awareness amongst the
deprived population of the country who have no access to basic healthcare
services or knowledge about the diseases they are suffering from. So, SMILE
provides free medical advice, medicine to the unfortunate people and refer them
for specialized treatment or surgery whenever it is required. These camps make
sure people are getting the healthcare at the right time, and seeing the doctor
early enough before a small health problem turns serious.
Importance of medical camp:
SMILE conducts Medical camps to carry out a limited health intervention
amongst the underprivileged community. The poor attend these camps to get free
check-up and treatment. Getting the appropriate kind of health checkup is vital
for every human being and while considering it, some important factors like
age, lifestyle, family background, and risks are taken into account.
Health
examinations and tests at the early stages of the illness can help to cure it
faster and save a life before it can cause any damage. One can live longer and
healthier only when the individual gets the right kind of health check-up,
screening, and treatments. Even the most basic checkups can identify underlying
illnesses.
These
medical camps provide the poor population overall physical examinations which
include eyes and health check-ups, assessment of the functioning of vital
organs like the heart, lungs, digestive system, liver, kidneys, and immune
system. Free medical camps are extremely helpful for the poor population who
earn a meager income and cannot afford expensive healthcare services offered by
hospitals or clinics.
Most Common Diseases
SMILE previous experience diagnosed with various health problems such as
Hepatitis C, typhoid, throat infection, seasonal allergies, coughing, asthma,
ear pain, gastric diseases, diabetes, blood pressure, respiratory diseases,
gynecological problems, jaundice, kidney pain, and body pain.
Proposed Project Brief
SMILE proposed to conduct various Medical Camps in the Govt. Schools of
Sialkot District. The objective of this activity is to do a restricted
wellbeing intercession among the oppressed local area. These free clinical
camps will be set up with a hallowed plan to bring mindfulness among the denied
populace of the country who have no admittance to essential medical care
administrations or information about the illnesses they are experiencing. These
free medical camps will ensure guidance, screening, etc. to the students and
allude them for particular treatment or medical procedure at whatever point it
is required. These camps ensure students are getting the medical services with
flawless timing, and seeing the specialist early enough before a little medical
condition turns serious.
1. Objectives of the proposed
medical camp
SMILE is determined to provide basic check up in the Govt. School
(Both Boys & Girls) of Sialkot District by a mobile team with varieties of
medical specialized services. The main objective of this medical camp is to
provide medical screening to the students.
2. Preventive Healthcare Session
A male/female doctor will held a preventive healthcare session for
all students at the medical camp in the school. The doctor will brief the students
to raise awareness about the local Health and Hygiene issues, symptoms of
certain disease, causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. In this medical
camp, the following services will be provided.
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Free
Consultations, Medicines, and Diagnostic Tests
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Hepatitis
B & C Screenings
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Blood
Sugar Test
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Blood
Pressure Checkup
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Provide
free and high-quality medical services for the poor students
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Medical
screening through the checkup of eyes, ears, tonsils, etc.
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Raising
health awareness among the students about Health & Hygiene
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Distribution
of the material related to Good Health & Hygiene practices
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Register
rare and severe cases and refer them to specialized centers
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Refer
medical cases towards surgeries if required.
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Evaluate
the living conditions and determine the obstacles and challenges to work on
solving their problems
3. Medical Camp Team
The team for this free medical camp will consist of 6 members, including one supervisor, one doctor (male/female),
one staff nurse, a patient registrar, a photographer, and a crew worker.
4. Proposed Budget
SMILE will provide a detail budget, once the project activities are
approved by the DONOR.
5.
Reporting
SMILE will provide the complete Supporting Documentaries for
reporting purposes, which will included.
·
Complete
Data Base of the beneficiaries
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Photographs
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Acknowledgement
from the School Head
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Video
Interview from the beneficiaries