Aardram Mission, the Left government’s flagship programme to transform the public health sector, will now be taken up as a popular movement — Aardram People’s Campaign — that will allow people to take the lead in the initiatives taken up under the mission.
The focus of the campaign will be ‘Our Health, Our Responsibility’.
The year-long campaign is expected to be launched on November 5.
The past three years have seen the State’s health sector, especially primary care services, undergo a major transformation in such a way that most primary health centres (PHCs) are now family health centres that offer comprehensive primary care services, right up to early cancer screening and detection.
Infrastructure
The State has invested heavily in infrastructure and human resource to make these institutions patient-friendly with all amenities and extended OP hours so that the footfall in these FHCs are steadily growing.
The Aardram People’s Campaign envisages taking these achievements of the State’s health sector to the people directly and getting the community to lead the State’s movement towards total health.
The year-long campaign will focus on five main areas: preventive and promotive health and improvement in the health-seeking behaviour of people, promotion of healthy food habits, promotion of physical activity, promotion of environmental sanitation, and prevention of substance abuse including alcohol.
Addressing these five broad areas are considered key to the State’s total wellness and are crucial for the prevention of both communicable and non-communicable diseases.
The Health and Local Self-Government departments will lead the campaign, and other line departments such as Food Safety and Drugs Control etc, agencies, NGOs, missions, and schools will help in implementation by identifying areas of concern.
HSR preparation
The campaign will address the strengthening of preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care services in the community.
Strengthening field-level activities to take Aardram Mission goals to the people and encouraging local bodies to prepare the health status report (HSR) of the people are two major activities of the campaign.
The HSR preparation will also be important to help panchayats plan their health budget carefully.
New initiatives
During the campaign period, the Health Department is also planning to launch a slew of new health promotion initiatives, all of which could contribute towards Kerala’s attempt to be a healthier State.
