Universal Health Coverage Day 2019

On December 12 Blossom, together with Rainbow TB Forum, observed Universal Health Coverage Day. This years theme was for our leaders to ''Keep the Promise''. To ensure that our local leaders will put in the maximum effort to ensure healthcare for all, our EduClowns took to the streets to create awareness about the importance of an inclusive healthcare system.

Background

In India healthcare has greatly improved over the last decade. The state has put in many efforts to improve the access to healthcare, with one of the major achievements being a health insurance scheme. However, for many people, especially those living in rural areas, healthcare is still a luxury, instead of a right. There are not enough doctors and nurses and the inclusion of women and marginalized groups is still one of the major gaps.

At Blossom we believe in a bottom-up approach; the voices of the community will encourage our leaders to take action on what is most needed. Without the involvement of the local level, there is a risk of creating a gap between the policies created by our leaders and the needs of the people. That is why for Universal Health Coverage Day we took to the streets of Virudhunagar for an awareness and signature campaign. And what would such a campaign be without our EduClowns?

The voices of the community

Over the course of two days we covered all 11 blocks of the Virudhunagar District to distribute flyers and allow people to sign our petition. We went through the district with our van, which was covered with messages about the importance of including marginalized groups and ensuring gender equality to achieve universal health coverage. To reach as many people as possible, our EduClowns went to the busy areas of each city/village, such as the market places, bus station and colleges. Observing Universal Health Coverage Day could not happen without visiting the places where this healthcare actually happens: the hospitals. Our EduClowns visited several hospitals in the district and spoke to nurses and health officers. All of them confirmed the importance of addressing the gaps in healthcare and signed our petition.

The result

This Universal Health Coverage Day we distributed 5000 flyers and collected 750 signatures from the people of Virudhunagar. Our presence was received positively by the locals, the healthcare providers and patients. The collected signatures were presented to the local Deputy Director of Health Services, who once again committed to putting his efforts towards an inclusive healthcare system in Virudhunagar.

Project Duration: 2019