Health
Impact
- Equal and affordable access to quality medical services to ensure good health & well being
Objective
- To provide best quality Health Services
The RLCC has built up a multi-faceted health program, which revolves primarily round two initiatives: the Health Centre and the Promotive and Preventive Health Program.
Community Health Centre
RLCC’s health program is one of its longest running to date. The programme includes provision of healthcare and outreach efforts to increase awareness of widely prevalent diseases and ways of prevention.
Regular clinics, specialist clinics and camps are run on a customary basis. Primary care clinics in Shah Faisal Colony for women and children. The clinics provide immunizations, antenatal, postnatal, family planning,Mental Health, Eye clinic,Paediatrics, ultrasound and treatment of other minor ailments .
From July 2020 to July 2021, the Health clinic served 7,500 patients.
SATELLITE CLINIC
This project was initiated in June 2021 as an off-shoot of the Health Centre with the purpose of providing health care to those members of the community who were unable to access the clinic or hospitals. It is also an integral part of our Outreach Program which aims at spreading awareness about health issues within the community.
A nominal amount is charged for consultation and medication for two days. When required, patients are referred to other hospitals and those who cannot afford medical expenses are given financial assistance after the verification of the Outreach team.
Referral System
Patients are referred to different hospitals according to their diagnosis. An overview of the program is given below:
PROMOTIVE AND PREVENTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM
RLCC believes that among the many responsibilities that women undertake, their roles as child bearers and primary caregivers are among the most influential ones, as they become important influencers to their family members.
The Promotive and Preventive Health Program involves a dedicated team of experienced Field Workers, trained by Ziauddin University and Hospital, who conduct awareness programs. In specified areas, each field worker inducts a woman from the community to become a group leader, who then holds regular meetings in her own home where her neighbors can voice their everyday concerns, building up trust and a sense of empowerment amongst the women.
PARTNERSHIPS AND FACILITATION
A key element in strengthening program implementation and delivery is collaboration with other organizations. Recognizing the fact that NGOs in Karachi have varied fields of expertise and established networks, RLCC continues to expand and enhance its partnerships with NGOs.
Future Plans
Following the successful building of a state-of-the-art secondary school in Shah Faisal Colony, RLCC is now committed to realizing Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali’s dream of a state-of-the-art hospital in the colony. Pakistan has a maternal mortality of 186 women in 100,000 live births that is amongst the highest in Asia. Infant mortality rates are also alarming with Pakistan ranking 26th in the list of countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world. Too many women and children die of preventable causes. Despite urbanization, low socio-economic parts of the city remain congested and underserved, with poor quality of services. Low contraceptive usage and early marriages result in repeated pregnancies, and poor nutrition and lack of access results in high risk pregnancies. RLCC’s health program has also been expanding and despite limited resources has been responding to the needs of the community. Demand for quality services is high.
Ra’ana Hospital will therefore be a much needed addition to the spectrum of health services available to the disadvantaged women and children of Karachi, and Shah Faisal Colony in particular.
Najmi Bilgrami Collaborative (Pvt.) Ltd. (NBCL) is one of Pakistan’s most prestigious architectural firms having won several awards and participating in multiple public projects. NBCL has graciously agreed to be the architects for the Ra’ana Hospital project pro bono. First draft of the plans are already developed.
RLCC has formed a small, multidimensional team to provide leadership, expertise and coordination for the Ra’ana Hospital Project.
Partners:
- Caravan of Life
- LRBT
SDG
