12th Class Biology Human Health And Disease / मानव स्वास्थ्य और रोग Community Health                      

The individual is a part of community. Community health depends on active participation of its members you have just read how a person can be helped by the community to stay away from addictions. The mental health of an individual also depends to a large extent on the way he adjusts himself to the community and the way the community helps him adjust to stresses ad strains. The community plays a major role in the prevention and control of infectious diseases also.

Health centres

For community development and community health, the country has been divided (1st April, 1958) into 5000 blocks. On june 30, 1996, the rural areas of the country has 2424 Community Health Centres (each catering a population of 80,000 -120,000 having \[45\] doctors, 30 bed hospital with laboratory and X-ray facility), 21854 Primary Health Centres (each catering a population 20000 - 30000, having a medical officer, one multipurpose female worker, one health educator, and supporting staff) and 132730 subcentres (one for 3000 - 5000 population, having one male and one female multipurpose workers). These health centres are operating under state governments.

A number of other health organisations are also providing basic health services like Central Government Health services (C.G.H.S.) dispensaries, Employees State Insurance (E.S.I.) hospitals, Indian Council of Medical Research (I.C.M.R.) Programmes, National Institute of communicable Diseases (N.I.C.D.) and a number of other national programmes/thrust areas like National Malaria Eradication Programme (N.M.E.P. started 1953 as part of 1st five year plan), National Filaria Control programme (N.F.C.P.), National Leprosy Control programme (N.L.C.P.), National Cholera Control (N.S.E.P. already achieved), national programmes for control of blindness/trachoma, cancer, AIDS, V.D., tuberculosis, etc.

W.H.O. (World Health Organization) also provides assistance and expertise for certain programmes.

Role of Health Centres

(1) Medical care (i) Giving first aid to all emergencies. (ii) Providing curative medical services to both outdoor and indoor patients. (iii) Refering patients requiring specialised treatment to proper hospitals.

(2) Prevention and control of Communicable Diseases. (i) Mass vaccination against various communicable disease like whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus polio, tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid, etc. (ii) Coordinating with state and national agencies for programmes of malaria eradication, filaria, tuberculosis eradication, cholera control, leprosy control, V.D. control, trachoma control, AIDS control, etc. (iii) Taking special gatherings, exhibitions etc. (iii) Taking special precautionary measures during fairs, religious and political gatherings, exhibitions etc. (iv) Notification of the spread of epidemic diseases and measures to prevent the same, (v) Killing of mosquitoes, flies rats, strays dogs, etc, (vi) Filling or covering of mosquito breeding places (vii) Inoculation of larger water bodies with larvicidal fishes, plants bacteria and cynaobacteria. (viii) Isolation of patients with highly infectious diseases. (ix) Supervision of eating places, food and milk trades for preventing spread of communicable disease.

(3) Data Collection Vital Statistics : Community health workers collect and cross data about (i) Spread of infectious diseases. (ii) Prevalence of deficiency disorders. (iii) Progress of national / regional health schemes. (iv) Public resistance, hesitation or appathy to new programmes. (v) Sanitation. (vi) Pollution (vii) Sate drinking water and safe edibles.

(4) Maternity and Child Health (M.C.H.) : (i) Training of dais / midwives. (ii) Guiding expectant mothers about problems related to pregnancy. (iii) Routine examination of pregnant woman. (iv) Antenatal care. (v) Inoculation against tetanus. (vi) Providing facility for child birth. (vii) Post-natal care. (viii) Milk feeding programme. (ix) Prophylaxis against anaemia and vitamin deficiency. (x) Immunisation of infants against common diseases. Child survival and Sate Motherhood (CSSM) programme has been introduced since 1992. The incidence of vaccine preventable diseases has declined since then.

(5) Nutrition Education : Information is provided by health official as to the requirement of various untrients in persons of various ages, deficiency diseases, balanced diet, availability of nutrients in common foods importance of green and yellow vegetables.

(6) Sanitation : (i) Providing safe clean, germ free drinking water. (ii) Proper disposal of waste through proper latrines, compost pits, soak pit, kitchen gardens, smokeless chullah. (iii) Prevention of water pollution. (iv) Prevention of air pollution. (v) Hygienic and healthy working conditions. (vi) Hygienic and healthy housing (vii) Capture of rabid animals. (viii) Prevention of insect breeding and other vector control. (ix) Uncontaminated food.

(7) Community Health Education : Community health education is related to knowledge about transmission, prevention and mechanism of control of communicable disease, development of important noncommunicable diseases, personal hygiene and addictions. It is carried out through (i) Personal contact. (ii) Pamphlets and other printed materials. (iii) Slides, charts, pictures, cinema, radio, T.V. and other audio – visual aids.

(8) School Health Services : They provide for (i) Medical check up of the child at the time of admission and regular check up later on at intervals. (ii) Treatment and follow up action for any disorder. (iii) Immunisation. (iv) Regular screening by class teacher. (v) Guidance in personal hygiene (vi) Health education. (vii) School sanitation. (viii) School facilities including safe drinking water, prevention of infection from common glasses, proper sitting lighting and ventilation, etc. (ix) Midday meals in certain areas.

(9) Family Planning / Family Welfare : Keeping the number of children per couple to 2 is to goal of family planning so that the size of Indian population becomes stable. Health centres give free (i) Family planning advice (ii) Family planning services.

National Immunisation Programme

With the success of small pox eradication programme, an impetus has been given to eradication of six preventable disease through universal immunisation programme. The six diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, tetanus, tuberculosis and measles. The programme was launched by W.H.O. In May, 1974 and is expected to reach every child by 2000 A.D. In India, It was launched in 1985 with reaching every child in 1992. India has fixed the year 2000 A.D. As year of health for all.