Reproductive Health

Community-based Clinics

The community-based clinics are managed by the community in partnership with TISCO's Centre for Family Initiatives (CFI).  While the community shares its resources through furnished infrastructure and volunteers, the CFI provide doctors,drugs, medicines, and vaccines.  Contraceptives which are provided by the government are channelled through the CFI to the clinics.  In ensuring involvement of the community, a committee on safe-rnotherbood, child survival and planned parenthood issues was set-up in each community-based clinic.

Home visits by clinic staff and trained female members of the community enable a larger segment of the target group to be reached.  During these visits, workers are only to motivate eligible women and not to provide services.  This approach is of particular importance in areas where resistance towards family planning is high.  The clinic must not be seei as forcing women to practice family planning but to provide service. when required.  The doorstep motivational activities have created a demand for services including contraception, thus expanding the demand from maternal and child health to family planning.

Similar clinics, based on the demand from the community, havi been initiated in other areas covering minority, tribal and small indus tries.  At present, 40,000 employees, their families and the genera population around the Steel city are reached by these clinics.
 

Establishment of a community-based Clinic
A baseline survey was conducted by educated but unemployed women selected from the community. These volunteers were first educated about family welfare and then given continuous monitoring and feedback during the survey. 

The findings of the survey were shared at a special meeting of the community.  This meeting allowed them to be involved in programme design, planning and implementation. 

Female volunteers were then identified for training in mid-wifery, family welfare, communication skills and the use of IEC materials

 Editorial Comments

India's efforts to control its population growth are making progress, although at a slower pace compared to the achievements made by other countries in Asia.  However, certain areas have not only made great progress but have even reached replacement fertility.  Jarnshedpur is an example.  This achievement is a result of the family welfare programme of the Tata Steel company.

What contributes to the success of the family welfare programme of this company?  Unlike the approach taken by the national programme, the Tata Steel company has the family at the core of its family welfare programme.  Employees, spouses, -parents, in-laws, young people and children are given education and services through various programmes.  This approach, complemented by quality services, gave the family welfare programme credibility.

Concerned with the threat of HIV/AIDS, the company embarked on efforts to integrate STD and HIV/AIDS educational and clinical services to its existing programmes.  With a strong family welfare programme and credibility, such an integration was not a difficult task for the Tata Steel company.  Relying heavily on its existing infrastructure and human resources, the cost of integration was limited to the development of IEC materials.

The Tata Steel has expertise in implementing a family welfare programme and has built capacity in prevention of STD and HIV/AIDS activities through its recent experience in programme implementation.  It is therefore in a position and is willing to share the lessons it has learnt with other agencies.  However, without systematic experience sharing and dissemination, the lessons learnt from this programme remains within the confines of the Tata Steel company and the areas around Jamshedpur.  It would be useful if relevant government and international agencies respond to Tata Steel's interest to act as a catalyst for generating involvement of the corporate sector.