1 Nov 2012

INDIA / EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE

For thousands living in Madhya Pradesh's Chharch village, there used to be no choice but to travel at least 40 km to the closest health facility in an emergency. Now a 24/7 maternal and child health center is offering a lifeline. UNICEF

Posted at: November 1, 2012 5:50 pm

Duration: 03.35

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: INDIA / EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE
TRT: 3.35
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / HINDI
 
DATELINE: JUNE 2012, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA
 
SHOTLIST

1.Various shots, ambulance driving in the pitch dark on rough terrain
2. Med shot, Manju Mishra, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife speaking with a patient about her release from health center
3. Med shot, ambulance driver closes door and sits in the car
4. Med shot, ambulance drives out of the health center premise
5. Close shot, pan up, feet to man walking with basket on his head
6. Wide shot, people in the Chharch villag
7. Wide shot, farmer watering soil
8. Wide shot, woman walking her child on her waist
9. Med shot, women sitting and talking
10. Close up, "Newborn Corner" sign
11. Med shot, women at the corridor with sleeping baby
12. Close up, baby crying
13. Med shot, tilt down, Pancho Bai to her newborn
14. SOUNDBITE (Hindi), Pancho Bai, mother: 
"Earlier, if we had a problem we had to go Pohri town. We had to find a bus or hire a tractor it was very difficult to find transport. It would cost us a lot of money to hire transport.  It was very hard to travel if you were pregnant or traveling with children"
15. Med shot, shift focus, from patient to a newborn sleeping
16. Med shot, newborn baby on hospital bed
17. Tilt down, mother to newborn
18. Med shot, mother laying down with her baby by her side 
19. Wide shot, Chharch Health Center
20. Close sup, board at the Chharch Health Center
21. Close up, women
22. Med shot, fully equipped labour room at the Chharch Health Center
23. Close up, installation for solar power
24. Close up, baby yawning
25. Med shot, Manju Mishra, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife, working under the solar powered lamp
26. Close up, Manju Mishra, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife
27. Med shot, Manju Mishra, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife speaking to mother
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Gagan Gupta, Health Specialist, UNICEF:  
"Not only this center, we are setting up other uch centers across the state. We have 125 such centers in the State and a lot of women from the marginalized groups, are getting benefitted by reaching these centers. This is a very good step to address the issue of equity and make sure that we are reaching those who need us the most and take the quality services at their doorstep so that there is no constrain in getting these services"
29. Med shot, mother picks up her newborn and cradles him at the Chharch Health Center
30. Close up,mother
31. Close up, baby yawns and then sneezes 
 
SCRIPT

Driving through a rough terrain in the pitch dark.

This ambulance is headed to Chharch a small village in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

There are no proper roads here barely any electricity.

But there is a 24 x 7 health center with an ambulance service that provides transportation for pregnant women before and after delivery.

For villagers from Chharch, who still don't have the luxury of drinking clean water or using basic sanitation facilities, this is a huge step forward in what seems like a long, desolate road to development.
 
Until this center was set up in 2010, they had to travel upto 40 kms to reach the closest health facility.

Now, for the first time, villagers here have easy access to free medical services every minute of the day, every day of the year.

Pancho Bai delivered her daughter at the Chharch Health Center last night –her first child to be born at a health facility.

SOUNDBITE (Hindi) Pancho Bai, Mother:
"Earlier, if we had a problem we had to go Pohri town. We had to find a bus or hire a tractor it was very difficult to find transport. It would cost us a lot of money to hire transport.  It was very hard to travel if you were pregnant or traveling with children"

Distances can be dangerous especially for pregnant women.

Too many women and children in Madhya Pradesh lose their lives because they can't get help in time.

Pregnancy remains one of the biggest killers of women ...not just here …but in the rest of the country as well.

One maternal death is reported every 10 minutes in India.

And the Chharch Health center is part of a larger initiative, supported by the Government and UNICEF that aims to reduce these needless deaths.

With a fully equipped labour room and solar powered lights, the Chharch Health Center has handled more than 650 deliveries in the past 2 years.

Working round the clock, these nurses are skilled birth attendants, and also trained in providing primary treatment for illnesses like diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia.

SOUNDBITE (English) Gagan Gupta, UNICEF Health Specialist:  
"Not only this center, we are setting up such centers across the state. We have 125 such centers in the State and a lot of women from the marginalized groups, are getting benefitted by reaching these centers. This is a very good step to address the issue of equity and make sure that we are reaching those who need us the most and take the quality services at their doorstep so that there is no constrain in getting these services"

It may be small and basic but the Chharch Health Center has proven to be a lifeline for thousands keeping women away from death's door and making sure childbirth doesn't turn into a time of mourning.