Post graduate students from the Dept of Community Medicine, AFMC held an Annual health camp for residents of Kasurdi village from 09 Feb to 21 Feb 09 as a part of their rural health training. In addition to running a clinic on a daily basis to cater to the needs of the community, some other activities in the form of health check up of all women and school children, carrying out a community survey and conducting health educational activities for the village folk at large were planned and carried out successfully during these two weeks.

Certain health promotional activities were also planned for children of Deep Griha society during these two weeks as a continuation of activities conducted every year and keeping in mind their special requirements as institutional children.

Complete medical examination- A thorough medical examination was carried out for all children (43 boys and 7 girls) who included their height, weightt, general and systemic examination, dental, eye and ENT examination. The same has been documented on a health record card for each child who can be followed up for next five years.

Screening for Anaemia All children were screened for anaemia by Hb estimation. Two were found to be anaemic and will be followed up.

Mass deworming - Keeping in mind the vulnerability of the children for worm infestation, mass deworming was carried out for all of them by a single dose of Tab Albendazole after explaining the procedure to them. The entire kitchen staff was also dewormed to complete the procedure.

First Aid Training - A First Aid class was organized for the staff of the institution and leader boys. Common ailments like fever, injuries, vomiting snake bite, etc, were explained in simple words and their first aid was demonstrated in an interactive session.

Updating First Aid box- The existing first aid kit at the society was upgraded with detailed instruction on use. The staff found this especially useful after the first aid class.

Participation of senior students in Anti tobacco-campaign – The team from AFMC planned to conduct an IEC activity against tobacco during the camp. It was felt that the senior boys of the institute could participate in the campaign, and thus help the team in spreading the message against tobacco and other substance abuse more effectively in local language. They would learn about effects of tobacco in the process. A group of boys were trained by the team members and they were able to participate in a street play which was performed in the village during the ‘kirtan’. The boys performed commendably with the team, resulting in a better impact and received a good response in the village. It was a good experience for the boys to participate in a health educational activity for a community.

Drawing competition – A drawing competition was organized for the children on one of the days with different topics for different age groups. All the children enjoyed the drawing and the best three were given prizes.

Health Education on personal hygiene and worm infestations- The children and the kitchen staff were given a talk on personal hygiene and on worm infestation during the mass deworming .

Follow up of mass scabies treatment. All children were followed up for any signs and symptoms of scabies during the medical examination. Mass treatment of scabies was undertaken along with health education by the dept of Community Medicine during the month of Oct 08 following complaints of scabies among children. The follow up revealed that the children continue to be infestation free as of date.

To increase interest in reading, 40 story books in Marathi were presented to the Library. These would be useful for all age groups.