From addressing India's mask shortage to giving a voice to the voiceless, our top SocialStory picks
This week, SocialStory brings you the top stories of people doing inspiring work in the health and social sector.
The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, originated in Wuhan, China, and according to reports, the total confirmed cases have now crossed 97,000 globally.
In India, 31 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed so far, including 16 Italian tourists who tested positive for the virus. The increase in the number of reported cases has led to widespread scare and has increased the stress on health facilities, along with a shortage of protective masks. To address the shortage,
Global Private Limited, a health startup by a team from IIT Delhi, has increased the production of their cost-effective respiratory masks.On the other hand, a startup based in Bengaluru has developed a cost-effective prosthetic device that enables people with throat cancer to speak. SocialStory brings you five stories of people doing inspiring work in the health and social sector.
How Delhi-based NGO Roti Bank is fighting hunger and ensuring everyone gets a roti to eat
According to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), over 190 million people suffered from malnutrition and hunger in India in 2019.
To address the issue of hunger, Rajkumar Bhatia, Sudhir Behrani, and Sonik Sidana started Roti Bank in 2015. The social organisation serves freshly-made rotis and also goes around cities taking leftover food from events, homes, and social gatherings, which is later fed to the underprivileged.
The team adheres to its vision statement, ‘Koi Bhookha Na Rahe’ (Nobody should be hungry).
Started with just seven packets in 2015, the organisation now collects and distributes about 3,200 packets every day from its centres.
This IAS officer is changing the face of education and development in Jharkhand
If you visit Shingbhum district in Jharkhand, there is a chance you may come across the walls of 650 anganwadis (rural childcare centres), with numbers and alphabets painted on them. Known as Building as Learning Aid (BALA), this is one of the many things that intrigue children in the district – one of the poorest constituencies of India – and has a large number of children with malnutrition.
BALA is the result of the efforts of IAS officer Aditya Ranjan and his initiative ‘Model Anganwadi’. He has also undertaken other actions such as improving sanitation and starting basic education.
The model anganwadis have also played a critical role in giving adequate nutrition needed for a child’s growth and development. Aditya shares that a baseline survey of the heights and weights of the kids from a year ago has shown noticeable improvement.
This 73-year-old librarian in Kerala walks 4 km every day to promote reading
Umadevi Antharjanam, 73, has taken to the streets and walks four-five kilometres every day to promote reading in Kerala. One can find her carrying a bag stuffed with books, going door to door. So far, the avid reader has visited at least 220 houses in the past 14 years in Budhannoor village near Chengannur in Kerala.
She also makes sure that the library members read the books that she brings to them. She asks children to tell her what they learnt from the books when she goes back to collect them after a couple of weeks. With people having known Umadevi for over a decade, they now call her to let her know about which books they or their family members want to read.
Coronavirus scare hits face mask supply in India
Amid the coronavirus scare, a frightened public has been buying face masks and related precautionary equipment, resulting in shortage across the country. The shortage of masks seems to be evident after there were reports of them disappearing from private-run hospitals and medical stores due to high demand.
The vaccine against the virus is still under development, and hence people are taking basic precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.
To understand more about the on-ground situation in India, SocialStory spoke to Prateek Sharma, MD and CEO, Nanoclean Global. Speaking about the demand for masks, he said,
“The demand is above the average. With many cases coming from different parts of India, we have increased our daily production, and now, on average, we are selling around 1,00,000 face masks every day.”
Further, to meet the increasing demand and to ensure the face mask is available to all its citizens, the government banned the export of face masks a month ago.
This startup is giving a voice to the voiceless through an affordable prosthetic device
Bootstrapped with Rs 10 lakh,
today has sold more than 300 Aum prosthetic devices with the help of its 12-member team. The device helps people who have undergone treatment for throat cancer, and are unable to speak, to get their voice back.The Aum prosthetic device bridges the gap between the food pipe and the wind pipe. It connects them through a thin membranous one-way valve made of silicon and allows air to pass from the wind pipe to the food pipe.
At the same time, the device ensures that no food particles enter the respiratory system. The air that seeps through creates a vibration, signalling the brain to produce the voice whenever a finger is placed on the throat.
Aum is available in the market for Rs 3,000 along with all the required supporting items like guide wires, a secondary inserter, brush, inserter hard gel, and a patient laryngeal bib. These are manufactured at one of the co-founder’s rubber factory.
(Edited by Kanishk Singh)