It’s the monsoon season, which means an increase in diseases such as cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue. Nagpur has 446 slums with some having little or no access to primary health care, safe drinking water or electricity. Life for slum dwellers can be miserable at the best of time, but more so in the monsoon.
Social workers and doctors from Women in Need and Dalvi Hospital provided 140 women and children with free health care and medication at Pillinaddi, a large Muslim slum community. Unsurprisingly, the majority of complaints were related to water borne disease such as cholera and typhoid. There is also a significant increase in cases of dengue and malaria, which are transferred by mosquitoes.
As the majority of women in this area would be unable to afford the cost of public transport to see a doctor, initiatives like this mean a great deal to the residents; not least it saves lives.
We would like to thank those from Dalvi Hospital who helped to make this possible.