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Children, The Family and Health: What it Takes to Give Children Long Life

The Singapore Workshop: Pakistan

APWA National - Malir Centre

Malir Centre is also one of the oldest family planning and welfare centre of APWA and is located in a small village called Dilbod Goth.

The building belongs to APWA. It has a Day Care facility, Family Planning and MCH programmes and Income generation/Industrial Home.

APWA National - Health & Population Section

1994 was the year of the International Conference on Population & Development, where participants from 130 countries of the world got together to chalk out a strategy for the next 20 years. Following dramatic appeal by International leaders to put aside differences and focus on building a secure world for the next generation, a programme of action was adopted calling for universal access to integrated Family Planning and Reproductive Health services. The 3 major goals for the follow up action to ICPD were:

a) Expanded access to Reproductive Health care including Family Planning, Information and Services.

b) Greater access to education

c) Reduction in child and maternal mortality

ICPD was followed by Beijing Conference in 1995, where again the common goal was to eliminate discrimination against women in education, health care, economic participation, decision making and women’s human rights.

APWA Volunteers attended both these successful conferences which have given strong impacts to the cause of women. Using the Plan of Action as guidelines the Health and Family Planning Section of APWA strengthened and expanded its own programme. New Family Planning Projects were developed using innovative strategies -

a) Four Family Welfare centres with support funding from Population Concern through PAVHNA.

b) Two Family Welfare centres with support funding from European / Population Concern were established in the North Karachi area in January 1995

c) 5 Family Welfare centres with support funding by UNFPA in Hazara Colony, Higrat Colony, liyari and Bhutta Villages, in October 1995 and Yousuf Goth 1999.

The methodology and activities employed were more broad based, integrated and participatory, Community Based Delivery approach, one to one counselling, integration with skill training, emphasis on Primary Health Care, immunisation, antenatal care, treatment of Reproductive Health, involvement through male motivation, resulted in the on going projects achieving 80% to 90% of its objectives.

APWA’s main concern is to take Primary Health Care including Family Planning and safe motherhood initiatives to under privileged women & girls in urban slums and rural areas. APWA’s approach is through integrated multi- dimensional programmes and projects that have combined primary health care with several components of reproductive health, including adult literacy, primary education, skill development, nutrition, legal rights, maternal care and family planning.

APWA uses a community based approach to improving impoverished women’s health and family planning and to improve general awareness and understanding of family planning among potential users. The project sites exemplify the problems of increasing population pressure, high fertility rate, high rate of education, poor sanitary conditions and lack of basic emanates.

In this environment population staff has succeeded in bringing about a definite change. Awareness of small family norm is spreading in the community through daily door to door visits of the Field workers. The message was also disseminated through group (Mohalla) meetings every month at the Family Welfare Centres and also through Doctor and LHV at the clinic where MCH and clinical family planning services are offered. These field workers, most of them coming out of their houses for the first time have been agents of change.

They have through women to women approach succeeded in reaching out to women of these closed communities. The project is now targeting young married and low parity couples and the stress is on monitoring high follow up rate.

APWA has viewed with great concern the poor status of the women. Its main concern has been is to take Primary Health Care including Family Planning and safe motherhood initiatives to under privileged women & girls in urban slums and rural areas. APWA’s approach is through integrated multi- dimensional programmes and projects that have combined primary health care with several components of reproductive health, including adult literacy, primary education, skill development, nutrition, legal rights, maternal care and family planning.

Some of the innovative, integrated programmes started in 16 centres of APWA National Headquarters

1. Health & Nutrition Programme:- for malnourished children and pregnant mothers, started at all centres. At Hazara, Bhtta, Higrat & Liyari Community centres are held monthly where children under 5 are examined to determine their growth - their need for nutrition added food and vitamins. Those children who are mal nourished and are at high risk are called every day (till their health & weight improves) and given milk, porridge, khichri and fruit.

• Child Care Centres : For the benefit of working mothers young babies and children up to 5 years are looked after from 9-3 at Orangi centre. They are provided with milk and fruit.
• Pre school - at Hazara, Bhutta, Malir, Orangi, Korangi. The children need to be given a cup of milk and biscuits during break.
• Antenatal Days - Once a week and Vitamins and milk provided for those in need.

2. Adolescence programme for young boys and girls of underprivileged area of Karachi:

Assessing the needs and feed back from these target areas APWA plans to expand the scope of activities to include a wider range of RH. The input from Health, Population, Community Development and Youth section of APWA will be combined to implement the programme. The adolescent group has been the most neglected. Their Health and Psychological problems need support. The aim is by the end of the year emergence of a strong, fully aware, committed group of young people.

3. Improving Quality of life of the women and children of Goths, periurban areas of Karachi, by providing them PHC & RHC services and bringing about behavioural changes through JEC Campaign.

4. Providing more facilities to the existing health care system, widening the scope of activities e.g. RTI, STD, AIDS awareness and treatment, Child care, EPI, Diarrhoea control, nutrition and primary health care.

5. Computer literacy programme for young girls at Liyari.(on going).

6. Craft centre for young girls at Hazara (on going) another centre at New Karachi is planned.

7. Camps are held for communities to gather in large numbers and benefit from different family planning and general health care facilities. e.g. vasectomy camp, IUD camp, Eye camp etc.

8. Information Education Communication Project:

Last Modified: November 29, 2002