Health Projects

Integration of Eye care into Primary Health Care in Karnataka in collaboration with Sight Savers International

Comprehensive primary eye care services are being provided including Vision Centres with

Spectacle dispensing units at the 10 designated PHCS in Karnataka in collaboration with

Sight Savers International. The main components are:

  •  Integration of other infectious diseases with eye care e.g. Diabetes and hypertension with DR
  •  Reproductive Child Health workers involvement in referring mother and child  suffering from eye disorders to vision centres
  •  Advocacy with state Government authorities for replication/training of DPMs and Govt. PMOOs in concept of vision centres and integration
  • Health systems research to understand the impact of integration of primary eye care with primary health care

Scaling up project in collaboration with John D & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, USA

The project is scale up and replicate Karuna Trust model of health care on a large scale in Karnataka and other States by improving access, use and quality of Reproductive Health Services through improved primary health care.

The project began in 2009 with support from MacArthur Foundation, USA, with three States under the purview of Scaling-up and during previous year, four more states were included, bringing the total number of PHCs under the project to 73 PHCs. There are plans to scale up to other States during the current year.

Manasa Project in collaboration with Sir Ratan Tata Trust

Integrating Mental Health services into primary healthcare has been a practicing model in Karuna Trust managed PHCs and additional services in mental health domain have been taken up in collaboration with Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Manasa Project has been catering to the homeless and mentally ill, predominantly women in Mysore city and the adjoining areas.

The services include:

  •   Mental Health Help Line
  •   Transit Care Centre
  •   Psychiatric services at Nirashritara Parihara Kendra
  •   Community Mental Health Programme through PHCs

Currently community mental health programme has been integrated into 27 PHCs in Karnataka.  

Repositioning Family Planning in Primary Health Centres in Karnataka in collaboration with Population Foundation of India

This is a 3-year project aiming to empower eligible couples to lead healthy and productive lives and exercising the rights to regulate their fertility through acceptable family planning methods. The objectives include:

  •  Delaying first pregnancy
  •  Promoting spacing between pregnancies among eligible couples
  •  Improving quality of RCH and primary health care programs through quality accreditations, continuous review and monitoring mechanisms

The project has been launched in 14 designated PHCs, mostly in northern Karnataka.

Water Quality Management in collaboration with Government of Karnataka and Arghyam

Water Quality Management project, a flagship project promoted by Karuna Trust is first of its kind where managerial inputs are provided to the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department and Health departments that are responsible for water quality. Karuna Trust facilitates management of district laboratories, awareness programs through IEC,   increased communication and convergence among the departments which in turn contribute to safe drinking water to the community.

This is being piloted in three districts of Karnataka: Chikkaballapur, Chamarajanagar and Tumkur and phase I has been launched.

Sukshema (MNCH) project in collaboration with Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT)

Sukshema, the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) project is a joint venture with Government of Karnataka, launched in the eight underserved districts of Northern Karnataka.  The districts under the project are Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Bellary, Bijapur, Bagalkot and Koppal. The objective is to improve MNCH outcomes in rural populations through the development and adoption of effective operational and health system approaches within the National Rural Health Mission framework.

Project activities planned by Karuna Trust for the year are Dissemination workshops, coordinating with KHPT for Trainings and Advocacy.

Comprehensive District HIV/AIDS Program (CDHP)

In Karnataka, Koppal is one of the districts supported by UNICEF in partnership with Samraksha for CDHP Prevention Program, Link Worker’s Scheme. Karuna Trust took over from Samraksha in 2010 and has been executing the CDHP project for UNICEF in Koppal.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY PROJECTS

 

Birthing Kits

Janma Birthing kits supplied by AYZH Health and Livelihoods Pvt. Ltd. are subsidized by  Rotary Foundation and distributed to the PHCs managed by Karuna Trust in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Arunachal Pradesh.

Supply Chain Management

Logistimo enables supply chain management using mobile phones and is offered as Software as a Service (SaaS) to improve vaccine/medicine in rural areas. This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Logistimo has evinced interest in partnering with Karuna Trust.

Logistimo has supplied the required model of mobile phones to the Supervisors and Pharmacists of Karnataka PHCs. Necessary training is being imparted and this program is planned to be launched during end of July 2012.  The program may be extended to PHCs of other States based on the progress and effectiveness of the program and willingness form both sided to continue.