Amravati, March 3, 2023: An Amravati village has got a Nutrition Rehabilitation Center (NRC) under Dettol supported health initiative Reach Each Child (REC) which works towards improving nutritional status of pregnant women and children.
The new centre was inaugurated at Churni village in Amravati (Maharashtra) by Chief guests Pavneet Kaur (IAS), District Magistrate, Amravati and Mr. Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs & Partnership SOA, Reckitt.
REC is supporting local tribes and people via its Community Nutrition Workers – GulabiDidis, who are trained by experts to help their own community to prevent malnourishment among women and children and ensure healthy pregnancies in the community.
Plan India, in association with Reckitt, launched the Reach Each Child program in October 2018 and has developed local cadre of community nutrition workers who educate people in their community to practice good hygiene, ensure diet diversity and access public health services for their children and families.
Commenting on the initiative, Pavneet Kaur (IAS), Collector and District Magistrate, Amravati, said, “I thank Plan India, Reach Each Child and Reckitt for their contribution towards renovating the NRC in Rural Hospital Churni, one of the remote tribal villages of Melghat. I hope that this will aid in providing better services to the malnourished children in the region and act as a confidence building measure for the parents. It has already generated a moral boost for the doctors working in the challenging area. Thanks for working in the area where it is most needed."
During the keynote address, Ravi Bhatnagar, Director, External Affairs & Partnership SOA, Reckitt, said, "Mother and children should lead a healthy life and no child should die due to malnutrition. With this objective, our efforts and cooperation are always with the government, administration, and society. We want to narrate Bharat to Bharat story through our Gulabi Didis who are working tirelessly for their communities and propagating best practices on health and hygiene. We support Gulabi Didis to make a sustainable change in their communities. We, at Reckitt invest to support indigenous woman network who strive to win over challenges of first 1000 days of child’s life."
During the event, the new born baby kits were also distributed to the mothers to help them take care of the child once they complete 14 days treatment from the NRC.
Dr Indira Chakravarty, Padmashree Awardee, Public Health Specialist & Environmentalist, who is among the health experts training the Gulabi Didis, said, “Being a woman, I have pledged to improve the determinants of health of the community, particularly the left-out ones and to reach out till the last mile. I personally believe that the Gulabi Didis are India’s one of the most unique steps towards empowering woman to achieve equity in health. I have invested my time and will continue to do so to create an army of indigenous woman health crusaders so that no one is left behind.”
Reach Each Child (REC) intervenes in the first 1000 days of the child’s life and has created a substantial impact in Amravati and Nandurbar districts in Maharashtra.
