This year April 7th marks the most significant milestone in the history of public health, the 75th birth anniversary of World Health Organization (WHO) which is observed across the globe as World Health Day.
As part of observation of this landmark celebrations in our progression towards achieving ‘Health for All’, which is also the theme for this year, multiple activities were organised and conducted by Department of Community Medicine, NRI Institute of Medical Sciences (NRIIMS).
The activities in which all the faculty members, post graduates, interns & students actively took part in, are mainly in the form of ‘outreach’ to the community and ‘creative & academic’ for the students of NRIIMS.
1. Health promotion at RHTC
Along with the regular OPD, specialist & referral services, health promotion activities were also conducted all along the week in the premises of RHTC.
Enabling individuals to gain a control over their health via health promotion activities in different domains was the mainstay of this activity. Beneficiaries, attending the RHTC took part in these activities in which interns and post graduates under the supervision of faculty played an important role.
2. ‘Vaidya - Aarogya Sadassu’ (Outreach Health Clinics)
As the name implies, to take the comprehensive health care services to the reach of individuals, families and communities, right at their door steps, outreach health clinics were designed and were in progress on a regular basis, in the service coverage areas of Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) of the institute.
This world health day, such clinics were specially intensified all along the week in multiple locations to highlight the determinants of health and to enable & empower the communities to be able to address them. Also, outpatient services were provided at the field level to all the beneficiaries.
The mainstay of these clinics was also has been to address the problem of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) epidemic in our country, with priority action towards prevention & control of lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes and Hypertension. With the aim of ‘Tackling NCDs’, along with promotion of physical activity, basic Yoga practises were also taught to the beneficiaries by a trained Yoga instructor. Active participation from the beneficiaries has led to success of this campaign with a positive feedback all along.
3. Health education at Anganwadi Centres (AWC)
Signifying the ‘Health for All’ campaign, to be able to reach the most vulnerable health groups, health education activities were conducted at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) in collaboration with the government sector health units.
Health education specific to the beneficiaries (pregnant women, lactating women and under-5 children) was planned and organised at multiple units. To improve the effectiveness of health education campaign in maintaining/restoring optimal health of the beneficiaries, the core principles of health education were incorporated into the campaign. Also, to evaluate the effectiveness of this campaign in creating the desired outcomes among the beneficiaries, collaboration with Anganwadi teachers has been of tremendous value.
4. Adolescent health education at ZPHS, Anandapuram
Another most vulnerable health group - Adolescents were of the main focus as part of ‘Health for All’ campaign. Adolescents, among whom most of the health habits form and develop and can have an impact on them in long term. Hence, Adolescent health education programme that took place at the ZPHS, Anandapuram for all the adolescent boys and girls was planned.
This campaign highlighted and addressed the most common adolescent health problems such as nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition and obesity, physical inactivity, substance abuse, infectious diseases and mental health.
5. Yoga sessions @ NRIIMS
To promote health & well-being along with sound mental health and to sow the seeds for salutogenesis among all the students of NRIIMS, daily Yoga sessions were held at the institute everyday in the evening.
The qualified Yoga instructor conducted the sessions starting with meditation with Omkar, warm up exercises, to asanas, relaxation &pranayam techniques. These sessions were highly favoured by the students, which they took an active part and were intended to encourage all forms of physical activity along with Yoga, has part of their daily routine and to enable them to gain a conscious orientation and control over their health.
This campaign highlighted and addressed the most common adolescent health problems such as nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition and obesity, physical inactivity, substance abuse, infectious diseases and mental health.
6. World Health Day 2023 Rally
To spread awareness and also to create a mass moment on “Health for All” - rally was organised on the 75th world health day by the students of NRIIMS and American NRI College of Nursing.
The principal of NRIIMS with his message for the students has flagged off the rally at NRIIMS, which was continued at the Anandapuram flyover & market. With multiple slogans created on “Health For All” in Telugu by the students, the rally had a massive attention from the passover traffic and public.
Creative and Academic activities
Fostering the 21st century skills among the students has always been our motto at our institute. Hence, in that direction, multiple activities in the form of contests were planned and executed all along the first week of April.
To encourage active participation from students and to create a vibrant competitive environment, various activities focusing on providing an opportunity to inculcate and hone the 21st century skills such as creation, communication, collaboration, knowledge attainment on a continuous basis & critical thinking capabilities. To engage the students from all the phases of MBBS and to disseminate information on the contests, innovative approaches were taken in the form Gifs, Short videos along with banners & posters.
The list of activities included:
7. National Quiz contest @NRIIMS
National Quiz contest @NRIIMS under the aegis of Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) held in 2 rounds - elimination and main round. Showing the competitive spirits of our beloved students from all MBBS phases, the elimination round saw an active participation of 20 teams of which the top 4 teams took part in the main round.
Winners:
First - Ms. N. Kowsalya, Ms. Md. Shabeena Begum & Ms. K. Sudheera – MBBS Phase III-Part 2
Second - Mr. G. Chanulu, Mr. M. Suhas Ch. & Mr. K. V. Ajay Kumar – MBBS Phase III-Part 2
8. ‘Paint us a picture’
‘Paint us a picture’ - a platform for the students to showcase their artistic skills in creating academic & educational content in the form of posters, which is not only engaging but also enlightening.
Winners:
Mr. S. Datta & Ms. N. Akhila – MBBS Phase III-Part 2
Ms. T. Vyshanavi – MBBS Phase I
Ms. K. Neeharika, Mr. Y. Baranesh & Ms. K. Meghana –
MBBS Phase I
9. ComMed ‘Talks’
ComMed ‘Talks’ - speaking contest for the students to let their vision on future of Health for All be seen and their thoughts on future of Health be heard. This also provided a platform for the students in honing their speaking skills, while organising their thoughts.
Winners:
10. Commed ‘Writings’
Commed ‘Writings’ - literary contest for the students to put forward their critical thinking on ‘Health For All - Challenges & solutions’. A tremendous response was seen for this contest in which nearly 25 writers participated in, putting forward their thoughts.
Winners:
11. Commed ‘ShowSpace’
Commed ‘ShowSpace’ - short form video contest for the students to showcase their creative skills to the world in creating stories on ‘Health For All’.
Winners:
12. E-poster contest
12. E-poster contest at the state level under the aegis of Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) was organised, in which students displayed their modern communication skills in designing high quality scientific /informational posters.
All the winners of this contest will be awarded the prizes at the upcoming IPHA state conference to be held in the month of September 2023.
State level Winners in PGs: :
1st – Dr. T. N. Manoj (2nd year PG, Community Medicine,
NRIIMS)
3rd – Dr. P. Shanthi (2nd year PG, Community Medicine,
NRIIMS)
State level Winners in UGs:
2nd – Ms. V. Diteshna (MBBS Phase III-Part 1)
Consolation – Ms. K. Kaivalya (MBBS Phase III-Part 1)