The United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are a universal urgent call for action by all countries to put an end to poverty and protect the environment, so that by 2030 all the people will live with prosperity and peace. Each SDG has its unique role. SDG3 aims to achieve “good health and well-being of all ages.”
As SDG3 seeks to ensure health and well-being for all, it focuses on providing sufficient funding for improved sanitation, health system and hygiene and to increase access to physicians. It also aims to make a remarkable difference in helping to save the lives of millions of people. Health and well-being goals mark all the crucial health priorities such as newborn, child, reproductive, adolescent health, communicable and non-communicable, and universal health issues with access to all effective, quality, safe and affordable medicines and vaccines.
SDG3's worldwide goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle, take preventive measures and provide efficient healthcare facilities to everyone. We can work by undertaking action to achieve these global goals by ensuring to reach some of these targets -Fighting Communicable Diseases, Reducing Maternal Mortality, Promoting Mental Health, Reducing Road Injuries and Deaths, Universal Access to Sexual and Reproductive Care, Educating about Family Planning, Supporting Research and Development in the Field of Healthcare and so on.
SDG3 IMPLEMENTATIONS OF CHILD HELP FOUNDATION
Child Help Foundation has established its flagship programme Emergency Medical Support for those children who are in desperate need of medical help. It is parallel to its focus on achieving the goals of SDG3. We fund the treatment of the economically disadvantaged, provide medical aid to those in urgent need of treatment and ensure that their families get the support they need throughout the treatment. Our organization funds the treatment of children suffering from life-threatening, non-communicable diseases like Congenital Heart Diseases, Cancer, Organ Transplants, Preterm Babies, and many others.
Child Help foundation works through a systematic process. We use a referral system which means the Medical Professionals or Social workers partnered with different hospitals refer these children to us. Child Help Foundation has a network of 31 hospitals across India. We connect patients with the best doctors, nurses, and medical professionals for advanced technology for treatment. When a child is diagnosed with an illness they often face challenges to collect funds for their expensive treatment. Our organization thus provides financial aid and emotional support by counseling underprivileged patients. We then coordinate with the patient throughout their hospital journey. Our support extends to the post-treatment as well. Along with the hospital care, our medical coordinators' team keep in touch with the patient's family to monitor the child's overall progress.
Since the pandemic broke out in 2020, various hospitals desperately needed healthcare volunteers and fatalities per day. The lack of life-saving equipment like oxygen cylinders and concentrators was destroying our country's healthcare infrastructure, as there was a drastic increase in COVID positive cases and patients rapidly. Child Help Foundation launched a healthcare campaign 'Breathe India', to support critical patients, where we donated oxygen concentrators and saved as many lives as possible. We provided 13 concentrators to the Hospitals, which were tied up, with the Child Help Foundation for Emergency Medical Support across India. We were happy to save 7800 lives through our support.
Within the SDG3 program, Child Help Foundation took note of the necessity of providing clean, private and safe nursing or lactation rooms for mothers to breastfeed their children in public spaces. With such health needs of an infant, Baby Feeding Centers have been established to provide hygienic spaces across various hospitals and railway stations across India so that mothers can safely breastfeed their children inside the Baby Feeding Centre cabins. In collaboration with the Indian Railways, we currently have Baby Feeding Centers available in Maharashtra (Boisar, Kurla, Kalyan, and Palghar), Bihar (Katihar), Kerala (Kochi), and West Bengal (New Jalpaiguri). Child Help Foundation also inaugurated new Baby Feeding Centers in Lakeshore Hospital, General Hospital (Kochi, Ernakulam, Kerala).
Good health and well-being is one of the major concerns of every human that brings the capacity to enjoy life with dignity. SDG3 is a means for improving global health and well-being by safeguarding it from inebriation, sickness and access to care. It is important that one acquires basic knowledge about mental health, emotional health, reproductive and rights. With enhanced access and awareness, one can support their own health. At the same time Health education is necessary as it includes learning about communicable and non-communicable diseases, analyzing the factors that affect health, quality of nutritional intake, lifestyle choices and environmental factors. With the help of education and awareness programmes, children and parents understand their responsibility of keeping a check on their health and well-being.
“Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract – sustainable development – and turn it into a reality for all the world’s people” - Kofi Annan.