Email Address
info@missionvivekananda.org.in
Phone Number
+91 8589991227
Our Location
Agali ,Palakkad-678581
Village Health Worker
Village Health Workers
The First Outreach Program of Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission Since 2008.Village Health Workers (VHWs) represent the first outreach program of the Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission (SVMM), and their work is purely voluntary. The key responsibility of a VHW is to act as a bridge between tribal hamlets and SVMM programs.
VHWs regularly visit homes within tribal hamlets, collecting basic health information and preparing village health survey forms. During pandemic periods, such as the COVID-19 crisis, they conducted door-to-door awareness campaigns and worked to improve community-level preventive measures. They also facilitate the organization of awareness programs on various health themes.
Home visit by Panchayath Coordinator & Block Coordinator
From 2009 to 2021, VHWs maintained first aid medicine kits and provided basic first aid procedures at the village level. They attend monthly review meetings where different health-related training sessions are arranged by SVMM, and annual training is also conducted for the VHWs.
Currently, there are 150 VHWs under SVMM, with 110 in the Attappady block, 20 in Tholampalayam block in Tamil Nadu, and another 20 in Devikulam taluk, Idukki district. These volunteers are taking significant steps to empower tribal families to take ownership of their own health.
Educated youth from tribal villages are selected and appointed as Village Health Workers.
They are trained to give first aid, organize medical camps, conduct health education classes etc and appointed as Village Health workers. They are also given first aid kits.
The VHW help patients to seek medical advice in time, organise sanitation campaigns in their villages, motivate patients with eye problems to reach eye camps, support mentally ill patients and their families.
Altogether the VHW provide first aid to more than 15000 patients in a year.
This programme was started in 2008 and forms the backbone of all community health projects started by the mission.These volunteers are now present in 100 tribal hamlets situated in Agali, Pudur and Sholayur panchayats of Attappady.
The VHW are also present in tribal villages located deep inside the forests. The work of VHW is supervised by Village Health Coordinators in each Panchayat.
Every month the Village Health workers come together to review their work and to plan for the next month. There are annual training programmes for the VHW in which they are given awareness about health problems and their community level management.The Village Health Work Project is supported by Tribal Integrated Development and Education Trust, Mumbai.
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