The campaign was started from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand on November 28, 2022, and will cover five states and over 20 cities, culminating in Kolkata in the first week of January 2023
The ongoing ‘Nari Swasthya Janandolan Yatra – Anaemia National Ride’ organised by the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) is part of Dr Hrishikesh Pai’s ‘Badlaav’ campaign that aims to bring holistic health awareness in Indian women, especially anaemia prevention. The Yatra was started from Rishikesh, Uttarakhand on November 28, 2022, and will cover five states and over 20 cities, culminating at Kolkata in the first week of January 2023.
Speaking on organising ‘Nari Swasthya Janandolan Yatra – Anaemia National Ride’, Dr Hrishikesh D Pai, President, FOGSI said, “Taking the mission and vision of FOGSI of advocating and promoting women’s health and reproductive rights forward and considering the dire need of spreading awareness on anaemia amongst women, we have organised the Yatra that will cover five states and over 20 cities of India. Mitigating anaemia in India needs a multi-level approach that includes a high level of awareness building, behaviour change communication and challenging societal norms related to women’s nutrition and health needs. This Yatra is part of my Badlaav (Change) – a corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign focussed on advocacy for all aspects of women’s health. The concept is defined by the integration of information, equality in treatment and technology to be accessible for all. Badlaav Clinics will provide free health examinations for women on the 18th of every month.”
Deciphering the layers of the Yatra, Dr Pai added, “The objective of this one-of-its-kind Yatra is to spread awareness about prevention and treatment of increasing prevalence of anaemia in the country and to bring holistic health awareness among women, emphasising respectful maternal care, enhancing vaginal birth, breastfeeding, fertility preservation, genetic screening, infertility treatment, vaccination, cancer screening, NCDs (diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, Vitamin D, thyroid), PCOS, endometriosis, routine health check-ups, contraception, MTP, sexual dysfunction, heavy periods, mental health, gender equality, midlife/menopause, obesity and anti-ageing.”
In the last two weeks, seven cities have been covered with over 1100+ km and 50+ hours of road drive including Rishikesh, Dehradun, Ghaziabad/Khora Makanpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Agra and Kanpur. Health camps were organised at AIIMS Rishikesh, Yashoda Hospital Ghaziabad, Rajendra Nagar Urban PHC Meerut, JN Medical College of AMU Aligarh, SN Medical College Agra and GSVM Medical College Kanpur. Thousands of women have benefited so far from this, and there are 14 more cities to go that will complete the whole Yatra spanning 5 states of Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal up to early January 2023. Conducting medical camps, public forums and academic activities will be part of the Yatra. Bringing awareness about the holistic health of women through various channels during the Yatra will be the driving motto.
