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Building back better for the next normal

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  Access to   a healthcare facility is vital for good health, but people in rural areas face several healthcare access barriers. Hence, they are unable to achieve the best health services. Currently, the COVID-19 stigma has worsened the situation in rural India. Due to the lack of proper awareness, people in the rural areas have a misconception that healthcare professionals are sources of infection and they will force people to be removed from their families into quarantine centers. So, they limit their ability to obtain the care they need from healthcare professionals. This not only increases COVID-19 cases but also lags in recovery and progress. Despite all these COVID-19 challenges, the commitment and innovative spirit of GeBBS Foundation volunteers remain steadfast. Together they have taken various approaches to prevent cervical cancer as well as spread awareness on the pandemic trajectory in the rural areas. The volunteers even during these difficult times visited different vill
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Fighting COVID-19 and Cervical Cancer Together

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  Healthcare and medical aid is at times weak in rural India.   In many areas there are no formal hospitals and clinics in rural places hence, they mostly have to depend on untrained healthcare workers. Over two-thirds of these rural health providers have no medical training. But these providers are the only medical support for most of the rural population. Now the COVID-19 stigma has worsened the situation in rural India. Due to the lack of proper awareness, people in the rural areas have a misconception that healthcare professionals are sources of infection and they will force people to be removed from their families into quarantine centers. These quarantine centers are viewed with suspicion and fear. This not only increases COVID-19 cases but also lags in recovery and progress. The challenge of COVID-19 has shown us the importance of good health. So, despite all the COVID-19 challenges, the commitment and innovative spirit of GeBBS Foundation volunteers remains steadfast. Togethe
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Continuous attention on cervical cancer prevention

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  Precancers grow very slowly, hence getting screened regularly will prevent precancers from becoming cervical cancer. Screening for cervical cancer is recommended at the age of 25 and it should be done every 5 years. Cervical cancer is very rare before the age of 25, hence women between the age group 25-65 years should do their PAP test at regular intervals. The goal of cervical cancer screening is to find precancers early so that they can be treated before they develop into cancer. Screening can also find cervical cancer at an early stage when it is easier to treat. There are 2 types of the cervical cancer screening test, they are: The HPV test looks for infection by high‐risk types of HPV that are more likely to cause precancers and cancers in the cervix. The Pap test looks at the cells taken from the cervix to find changes that might be cancer or precancers. For women living in low-income settings with limited financial, cultural, or and lack of quality medical care it is d
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Giving hope to hard hit farmers

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  In the rural areas of India, there are almost about 120 million smallholder farmers who contribute over 40% of the country’s grain production. The livelihood of these smallholder farmers completely depends on their harvesting. Every year farmers face different types of risk such as low rainfall, price volatility and rising debts. But the risks from the COVID-19 pandemic have created new challenges. The nationwide lockdown came at an unfortunate time for farmers, as it was the harvest season for the rabi (winter) crop. This season the farmers in the rural areas could not harvest their bumper crops - cereal and oilseed. In some places, the crops have been abandoned, while in others the harvest is coming more than a month late,   along with limited and more expensive labor. In these challenging times, when regular transport and markets have not been functioning, GeBBS Foundation came forward to directly help the farmers in the rural areas of Aurangabad and Jalna. They along with othe
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Learnings in time of Lockdown

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  ‘We can’t afford to quarantine. If anyone else in my family is found positive, they would all be ordered to stay inside, which would mean even more weeks of not working, which would push my family closer to running out of food’ – this is the common statement for all the people in the rural areas. The coronavirus is ripping every corner of this country. The disease is rampant in rural India, where people have to rely on the most basic health facilities. So, to provide basic healthcare support, to the people in the rural areas especially Aurangabad and Jalna, our volunteers from GeBBSFoundation along with the doctors from Hedgewar Hospital conduct regular health check-up camps. Every day our mobile van visits different villages with our Hedgewar doctors and nurses to conduct these camps. Recent camps that were conducted in the last couple of weeks were Ambegaon, Nandeda village, Waghola and Lohagadnandra village, Lingdari and Anjandoh village. Our volunteers in association with Savit
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Our COVID-19 Action Platform

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  What do you think has been added as a compulsory accessory for mankind? Yes, the most talked-about newly added accessory for all of us is the face mask. The government has made it mandatory for all of us to wear a face mask when stepping outside. However, it is for our own benefit. Wearing a face mask will help prevent the spread of infection and prevent every individual from contracting any airborne infectious germs. When someone coughs, talks, sneezes they could release germs into the air that may infect others nearby. Face masks are part of an infection control strategy to eliminate cross-contamination. There are 3 reasons why wearing a face is important: 1.        Face masks can prevent the wearer from transmitting the COVID-19 virus to others and may provide some protection to the wearer. Statistics say that masks give us 90% of protection from the virus, if worn properly. 2.        Many people with COVID-19 are unaware of the fact that they are carriers. Yes! By now we
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Stopping the Spread of COVID-19

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  The first outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan in early Dec 2019. It took 67 days to infect 1 lakh people from COVID-19 and additional 12 days to infiltr ate a further 1 lakh. India reported its first COVID-19 case on 30 th January. The affected had a travel history from Wuhan. Within a month later two more COVID-19 cases were reported where one patient had travelled from Italy and the other from Dubai. Hence the spread continued. Today the total corona virus cases in India are approximately above 9 lakh. This number keeps changing everyday. The virus has travelled all parts of India, keeping its mark in both urban and rural areas. With the lockdown and reverse migration the number of positive cases has started increasing in the rural areas too. Due to the lack of proper health services and timely testing and treatment the virus aggravated in the rural areas. In general, rural healthcare has always suffered from inadequate infrastructure, insufficient health workforce and undepend
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