Social Work Volunteer Opportunities

Lifestyle choices : Most people (and you are probably one of them) have the ‘it won’t happen to me attitude’ when it comes to making lifestyle choices. Alcohol, Smoking, drug addiction are lifestyle diseases that increasingly impact & cripple urban India. A recent study shows upto 32 percent of urban family income is spent on alcohol! And after that Indians are busy spending the rest of their life savings on treating liver disease, drug addiction problems, alcoholism, morbid obesity and other aftereffects of living dangerously. Even seemingly harmless issues such as lack of sleep can have dire consequences such as causing sudden cardiac arrest when you are least expecting it.

Prohibitive costs of healthcare : Approximately one million people, mostly women and children, die in India each year due to inadequate & unaffordable healthcare. The cost of a single dose of cancer medication can cost upto a whopping 1.3 Lakh! 40-60 per cent of hospitalized patients borrow heavily at high interest, and up to 30 per cent end up slipping below the poverty line on account of healthcare costs.

Superstitions & myths about health care: We are often guided by superstition and cultural myths rather than scientific truths when it comes to cleanliness. This is why we have horrifying incidents like people jumping into Mumbai’s Mahim creek sewage water thinking its turned sweet by the grace of god, tribal girls married off at age 15 as per old customs, and belief in ritualistic medicine men like shamams rather than certified doctors.

Lack of a ‘fitness’ culture : While the rest of world believes in staying fit & active, to most Indians it seems to get in the way of our mad dash towards success. Who has time to watch our stress levels when we’re working long hours at work trying to make it big? With this attitude, it’s only natural that we would be plagued by lifestyle diseases. As of 2010, morbid obesity affects 50 million Indian lives. And in the last six decades, prevalence of hypertension has increased a whopping 30 times in India!

Lack of sanitation facilities : India’s sanitation facilities are dismal to say the very least. The Economist cites that 700 million Indians to not have access to a proper toilet. Take a ride on the Mumbai local and you’ll know that open defecation is widespread even in urban areas. WHO estimates that diarrhea alone kills almost 700,000 Indians each year because of contaminated water and inferior sewage treatments. Ever increasing population With a population of over 1 billion, India makes up 17 percent of the world’s population though it occupies less than three percent of earth’s land area. What this means is that the pressure on our already crumbling healthcare system is enormous. Starvation, malnutrition, poor diets, unhygienic living conditions, diseases are all on the rise because of growing competition for minimal resources. India has one of the highest rates of malnourished, underweight children nearly the same as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Increase in Life Threatening Illnesses : Today, about 95% of the 40 million people in the world suffering from HIV are from developing countries. A new study says that by the end of 2010, the death toll in India due to smoking will measure 1 million due to cancer, TB, respiratory disease & heart ailments. As we expose ourselves to more & more health risks, the life expectancy of Indians as well as the vitality of our nation both are in danger.

Community that lags behind : For a community to advance and prosper, good health, fitness and hygiene is the primary criterion. With a huge chunk of the country still living below the poverty line and doing multiple jobs to make ends meet, imagine how much worse the situation can get if the one of the few earning members in the family falls sick and can’t get the required medical attention?

Economic loss : 25 per cent of the population was prone to, or have suffered from, 1-3 health risks and 10 per cent is prone to more than three health risks. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, inactivity, high BMI (Body Mass Index), high stress, smoking, poor perception of health, poor life satisfaction, alcohol abuse and other major medical problems. Average productivity loss due to employee health problems has been estimated at about two hours 38 minutes per person per week, causing substantial economic loss to employers

Poor quality of life : India ranks a poor 73rd in the Quality of Life index out of 111 countries. And a large contributing factor are the health risks that Indians have to face daily. It’s not just because of what the government can’t or won’t do. It’s also because we live completely unhealthy lives with fitness and health being one of our last priorities.

Education : You don’t need to depend on the Government and health officials alone if you’re looking for change. Why not start with yourself?. All is takes is simple communication to tell people the benefits of clean living habits and necessary medical attention that must be taken (eg: A polio vaccine etc.) There are a number of non-government bodies that are working towards this goal, so ideally the public as well as the Government should be supporting them.

Scalable and sustainable health programs : The government will have to look into better, newer supply models for quality healthcare at controlled costs. This can be done by starting programs that educate people about healthier lifestyle choices, partnering with private firms and NGOs to overlook primary healthcare centres in rural areas. There will have to be stringent measures to see that quality of healthcare is maintained in the way of regular audits and better profit models to encourage the private sector

Balanced Lifestyle : On an individual level, making the right choices for you and your family goes a long way in improving your quality of life. Simple things like being aware of what you eat or drink and the effects of that on your body could help. You might fall prey to peer pressure but try and remember the far reaching effects that unhealthy addictions can have on your life.

Educate yourself : You’ve got to know the facts to understand the problem and try to do something about it. Educate yourself about healthier lifestyle choices, encourage your friends & family to go for regular checkups, say no to social stigma against diseases such as AIDS and learn the risks of your lifestyle choices before you choose to engage in them

Reach out, Help out :  It might not be feasible for you to be on the next bus to a remote village but that doesn’t mean you can’t help out at all. Volunteer some of your weekends to teaching healthy practices in poorer areas such as boiling water and washing of hands. Or get your friends together to stage a street play to create AIDS awareness. You could even do some part time work through an NGO doing interesting things like making posters, spreading the word via email, short films etc for a good cause

Lobby for change : There is no point in crying yourself hoarse if it isn’t well directed towards the right authorities. Identify your local politicians and BMC officials, then rally some support and appeal for reforms like better public hygiene, better corporate health insurance policies, better sanitation. Start a petition, and have people support it. Depending on how ambitious you are, this can be done even at the State and National levels. When enough voices stand together for reform, they will be heard.

Switch to healthy habits : Wake up and pay attention to the vital statistics – not just those of the nation but also of yourself, your family & friends. Get a group of friends together to play a game every weekend. Encourage your family to take up a healthy diet. If we make a change at an individual level, soon enough our country will be stronger & healthier

Community projects : Start a mini-movement in your neighbourhood, society or street. Organise a cleanliness drive, place dustbins throughout your street, put up creative posters urging people to keep the movement going daily along with demos on proper hygienic methods of garbage disposal, etc.