Projects : Reproductive & Child Health Project, Muzaffarnagar

Muzaffarnagar is one of the most populous districts of UP and is rightly called the "Sugar Bowl of India" for its sugar industry. Even though the district is economically prosperous, but the social indicators suggest a very low status of the district. As per the Census 2001 statistics, the population of the district is 35,40,000. Total literacy rate is 62% and the sex ratio is 872 females per 1000 males. The family planning indicators also suggest very low awareness and prevalence level among the people. The CPR (Contraceptive Prevalence Rate) was 30.3% in 2003, distribution of which is Sterilization - 15.89%, Condoms - 7.7%, Oral Pills - 4.4% and IUD - 2.4%.

FICCI-SEDF Reproductive & Child Health (RCH) Project is a two-year project funded by Govt. of India through SIFPSA. The project was started in October 2004 and is covering Purkaji block in Muzaffarnagar District, which has 75 villages with a population of 1,45,313.
This RCH project is a two-year project funded by Govt. of India through SIFPSA. The project was started in October 2004 and is covers Purkaji block in Muzaffarnagar District, which has approx. 50 villages with a population of 1,45,313. The main object of the project is to create awareness, improve reproductive & child health services and establish small family norm amongst the target population. The project incorporates the CBD (Community Based Distributors) strategy where the agency selects heath workers from the targeted villages and trains and mobilizes them to promote family planning and Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services in the said areas. The CBD workers and other project staff conduct door-to-door visits in their areas and provide them assistance in availing MCH services. Apart from this, two 'out-reach clinics' are also established where a Lady Medical Doctor visits and caters to the targeted population on visit basis.

The major objectives of the project are:

• To provide re-supply to all the existing (at the time of baseline survey) spacing users.
  
• To Supply CSM brand to 40% baseline pill and condom clients and 75% for new pills and condom clients by the end of the project.
  
• To provide ANC Service to all pregnant women with at least 80% receiving two doses of TT and 60% receiving 100 IFA tablets in the project areas.
  
• To provide for complete immunization of 80% infants in the project areas.
  
• To provide for complete immunization of 60% children (1-5 years) in the project area.

The project is being implemented in collaboration with Federation of Muzaffarnagar Commerce and Industry (FMCI) and the project office is based in the office of FMCI at Muzaffarnagar. The following activities have been conducted since the project inception:

• Setting up of Project Head office at Muzaffarnagar.
  
• Recruitment of the staff that includes
  
  • 1 Project coordinator - 4 Assistant Project Coordinators
    
  • 58 Community Based Distributors - 1 Office Assistant
    
  • 1 Accountant-cum-MIS - 1 Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM)
    
• Training of project team at Prerna Population Resource Centre, Lucknow.
  
• 2 Trainings of CBDs in Purkaji, Muzaffarnagar.
  
• Setting up of two Out-reach clinics in Barla and Tughlakpur villages.
  
• Completion of Baseline Survey in Purkaji block, which revealed following statistics :
  
  • CPR : 28.69% (Sterilisation 18.09%, IUD 1.29%, Oral Pills 4.44%, Condoms 4.87%)
    
  • Delivery took place at home: 85.54%
    
  • Births attended by trained birth attendants: 16.75%
    
• Training of Village Health Committee (VHC) Members by the project staff.
  
• Service delivery including Contraceptive Social Marketing.
  
• Community meetings and IEC activities in each of the villages.
  
• Wall-writings in each of the 50 villages to create awareness about the project.
  
• Periodic Health Melas in major villages and participation in Health Camps organised at PHC, Purkaji and District Hospital, Muzaffarnagar.
  
• Service delivery to the people. Following are the new cases motivated to use contraceptives:
  
  • Contraceptive condoms: 1492
    
  • Contraceptive pills: 773
    
  • Copper-T: 527
    
  • Female sterilization: 432
    
  • Male sterilization: 06
    
• Networking is being done with DM, CMO office, DIFPSA, local NGOs, village pradhans, ANMs and other such bodies.