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Illiteracy and Health
How to build a sustainable health development program
for rural south Asia and other under-served communities? Sanma presents ways to prevent diseases by
enhancing health literacy
Article by Eric Rochester
How to build a rural and slum development
platform that is sustainable, and scalable? Illiteracy is a scourge that harms many
areas of a person's life. Lack of health among the rural villages and
slums cause millions to remain less productive. Illiteracy remains one
of the most vicious elements that deprive people a chance to live with
decent health. Each day, 1600 children die due to
diarrhea. The vast majority of these infant deaths take place in the
rural villages and slum communities.
Nearly all of the mothers who do not
receive professional medical consulting during pregnancy are illiterate.
Their children are born with low birth weight causing them learning
disabilities. India is home for more
malnourished children than any other country in the world. Low birth
weight has been found to increase a child's risk of developing learning
and behavioral problems that will follow them all their lives. An innocent
child?s opportunity to study and get education is diminished because of
the lack of literacy of his/her mother. This is a sad story.
Sanma is in a mission of bringing hope to
these people by enhancing literacy, heath education, and micro-farming,
and has developed a practical method to provide health literacy to the
people in the rural villages and slums of India.
Literacy is an important aspect of
managing and improving people's health and financial stability. In case
of India, providing poor mothers health literacy mean more than a
thousand infant lives saved each day!
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