By Matters India Reporter
Secunderabad, June 1, 2020: The Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), a network of Catholic hospitals and healthcare centers across the country, plans to provide food kits to 1,000 families for six months.
As part of socioeconomic support through its member institutions, CHAI is gearing up to provide food kits every month for six months to 1,000 families of daily wagers, and other economically vulnerable and marginalized sections of society affected by COVID-19, said CHAI director general Redemptorist Father Mathew Abraham.
CHAI shared an ‘Expression of Interest’ call with its network and a few selected member institutions to implement the initiative, the doctor-turned-priest added.
CHAI is the Catholic Church’s premier healthcare organization in India. Sister Mary Glowrey, an Australian doctor, founded it in 1943.
So far, CHAI has assisted 500 families in two districts in Madhya Pradesh and one district each in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
CHAI is raising awareness within the community and training them on hygiene, safety, and hand washing practices while distributing soaps and face masks.
CHAI is also leveraging technology to monitor the implementation of this initiative effectively. Through a novel geotagging application, the member institutions can provide real-time information to CHAI on the number and place of distribution of the kits.
CHAI is now scaling up the initiative to an additional seven states in the country (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal).
Over the last two months, CHAI has been collaborating with and supporting member institutions within its network through various initiatives to mount an effective response to COVID-19 in the country.
Training Healthcare Professionals: In addition to the four online, self-paced training courses for clinicians, hospital administrators, allied healthcare workers, and community health providers, CHAI is facilitating a training program for 50 sister doctors in partnership with the University of Melbourne.
The program will provide sister doctors with evidence-based information and tools to address questions around COVID-19 from patients, colleagues, and the general public.
“With the generous support of our partners and well-wishers, we hope to continue to support our healthcare personnel and vulnerable families during this difficult time,” Father Abraham added.