INDIA – P&G Health has announced a collaboration with Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based non-profit organization, to support Apnalaya’s project to provide care to underprivileged pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns.
This project aims to increase capacity, raise awareness, and improve antenatal care services in government health posts in Mumbai’s M West Ward.
Over 4,000 direct beneficiaries and approximately four hundred thousand indirect beneficiaries will benefit from the service in the community.
This is the first urban community health initiative launched by P&G Health as part of its flagship CSR program, ‘SEHAT.’
Mr. Milind Thatte, Managing Director, P&G Health India said, “P&G Health is committed to building a Healthier India through our CSR program SEHAT.”
P&G Health’s ‘SEHAT’, which was recently named ‘Best Public Health Program’ at the India Health and Wellness Awards 2022 is a collection of public health-focused programs.
These include ‘Swasthya Sakhi,’ a rural community outreach program in collaboration with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) that helps to digitize health information, conduct primary diagnostics on pregnant women, and refer high-risk cases to the nearest Public Health Centres (PHCs).
Also, in the program is ‘Yes to Poshan,’ a collaboration with Tata Trusts that aims to improve the nutritional status of women and children in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district.
The project will enable screening to identify high-risk pregnancies, help educate on maternal health and nutrition, and ensure uptake of antenatal care and post-natal care services offered by government healthcare providers.
In addition, it will also build capacity amongst community health workers to provide counselling and support for pregnant women and families.
Apnalaya trains community health workers, known as Aarogya Sakhis, and equips them with AnandiMaa, a mobile-based application developed by Apnalaya’s technology partner CareNX Innovations for monitoring, reporting, and decision support for high-risk pregnancy follow-ups.
The app is a decision support tool that analyzes antenatal test data and recommends an appropriate line of support to ensure that high-risk complications are managed early.
On the other hand, a web portal/dashboard allows stakeholders to access data when needed and deliver care effectively.
In addition, an antenatal care kit with smartphone-integrated portable diagnostic devices is provided at the government healthcare facility to help with service delivery.
Simple point-of-care tests are included in the kit to assess blood pressure, hemoglobin levels, urine protein and sugar, blood sugar, fundal height, and fetal heart rate, all of which are important to monitor during pregnancy.
Commenting on the project, Mr. Praveen Singh, CEO, Apnalaya, said, “We are happy to partner with P&G Health to extend this successful model to yet another ward in Mumbai, build healthcare capacity, and improve access to antenatal care for the urban poor.”
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