Primary Health Centre

The Primary Health Centre (PHC).This is a close-up of a much larger poster. The other half of the poster shows a woman standing beside an outhouse. This piece is part of a campaign to encourage village dwellers to defecate in outhouses instead of near their sleeping and food preparation areas.
Leprosy has not yet been eradicated in India. It is treatable. Our lecturer this morning, Dr. Lobo, is an expert in Leprosy. I'll fill in more about our lecture later - I really enjoyed it.
Here we are being shown the integrity indicator (not the right term) on a vaccine. Maintaining the proper refrigerated temperature range for vaccines is a constant challenge in India. There is a little box on this bottle of vaccine - that box will change color if temperature has not been maintained, signaling to the health worker not to use it. Vaccines that have gone bad may contain live versions of the virus being vaccinated against, and can cause death. Often health workers have to travel to villages by bus to administer vaccinations. In that case, the workers carry small coolers full of ice packs to maintain the cool temperature.

This is a sample vaccination record for a child age 0-5.

Our very first field trip was to a Primary Health Centre (PHC). These centres are the front lines in the public health system in India. Here they do some prenatal care, vaccinations and screenings, and provide other very basic level services. Most of the services at these centres, especially in the rural areas, are provided free of charge. Staff at these clinics is minimal; and on top of that there is a shortage of providers willing to take these posts. Nearly 70% of the population of India is rural yet less than 25% of providers are located in rural areas. You do that math.

*Disclaimer on my blogging from India: I want to share my experience here with friends and family, but my free time is limited. I have made the decision that I would rather post rougher entries but on a more frequent basis than agonize over my prose and only post 3 times while I am here. So if you see spelling issues or clauses that could be clearer; ignore it.