Working through a pandemic

Measures taken by SNEHA as response to COVID-19

Mumbai

In the current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic, the immunity of our beneficiaries is even more critical to prevent them from getting infected. Apart from the immediate relief work during the pandemic, we continue to work on improving the health of our beneficiaries, with special focus on malnutrition and anaemia among pregnant and lactating women, children and adolescents. We are also addressing issues like mental health and domestic violence arising as a result of increase in stress levels due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 and staying indoors in congested homes.

SNEHA works in slum communities in Mumbai (Dharavi, Wadala, Govandi, Mankhurd, Malvani, Kurla, Kandivali), Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi-Nizampur directly reaching about 300,000 women and children and indirectly reaching over 1 million population. Currently the teams are working from home over phone/online to address the COVID-19 crisis through more than 8000 community-based volunteers as well as continuing our regular work on health and safety.

Our COVID-19 focus is on 3 aspects

Awareness creation

Educating slum communities on preventive measure like hand wash, personal hygiene, symptoms of COVID-19, proper usage of masks, significance of timely vaccination, tips on self-isolation, social distancing and other such precautions. This is done through direct phone calls to beneficiaries and through our community volunteers who help reach more community members. We conducted survey to assess vaccine coverage and vaccine hesitancy. We continue to educate and inform our communities on Covid-19 vaccines to increase uptake of the same.

Working with Government

We are working closely with senior Government functionaries at the city and state level to ensure continuity of health services for pregnant women, anaemic women/adolescents and immunisation of children; advocating for supply of rations at concessional rates, as announced by the Central Government and conducting online training for front-line healthcare workers on COVID-19. We are mobilizing communities for vaccination through public and public/private partnerships.

Direct Services

This includes distribution of food rations to needy families with no access to the public distribution system; supporting frontline health workers across the 7 Municipal Corporations with supply of masks and sanitizer bottles; continuation of counselling services to address mental health issues and cases of violence against women and children.

Our response till date

42,763 ration packs distributed distributed to needy families directly and in coordination with other NGOs, voluntary organisations and corporators. 32,347 boxes of fruits and vegetables to needy families in Dharavi.(Data as of September 2021)

26,173 sanitary pads were distributed to adolescent girls and women from poorer or marginalised families.

Material provided to 7 Municipal Corporations to keep health workers and our community volunteers & staff (Data as of September 2021):

12,500 disposable caps
140,250 gloves
176,984 sanitizers
199,550 disposable face masks
7,489 face shields
54,079 cloth face masks
32,386 PPE kits
59,200 N95 masks
3,000 disposable bed sheets
133 pulse oximeters
107 infrared thermometers
20000 syringes
25 ice lined refrigerators and freezers for Covid-19 Vaccine storage

More than 27,255 people have been vaccinated so far through the vaccination drive in Dharavi, Malwani and Mankhurd.

Communication for vaccine hesitancy : We launched a communication campaign jointly with MCGM and the Mumbai NGO Collaborative, a groups of five NGO’s working in vulnerable informal settlements, to address vaccine hesitancy.

Emotional resilience sessions : We conducted emotional resilience sessions & counselling through online group calls and our Clinical Psychologists have provided mental health counselling to adolescents. Anaemia follow-up and nutrition counselling was also (repeated word been) conducted with adolescents.

Online training for ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers and hundreds of members of Mahila Arogya Samitis (Women’s health committees) on preventive measures, proper use of masks and identification of early symptoms and referral for COVID-19.

Our 24/7 crisis helplines and the One Stop Centre (OSC) at KEM Hospital are functional and we are providing phone and online counselling to women and children in distress. Read more here.

Thank you to our supporters

EY Foundation

Harsh & Bina Shah Foundation

ATE Chandra Foundation

Pramiti Philanthropy Partners

SILA Solutions

Uplift Foundation

M

Mariwala Trust

Norwest Venture Partners

KBF Canada

Give 2 Asia

Fund Euroclear, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation

To support our work, Donate Here.

Further Reading:

Society for Nutrition, Education
& Health Action (SNEHA), Mumbai
Behind Building No. 11, BMC Colony
Shastri Nagar, Santa Cruz West
Mumbai 400 054
India

Phone
(+91 22) 2661 4488 / 2660 6295 / 2661 4476
(During office hours 10 am - 7 pm)

For women and children facing violence
crisis@snehamumbai.org
+91 91675 35765

Accreditations

Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA)

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