Arokiya Alai (Wave of Health) is a grass roots public health awareness campaign of Action for Rural Rejuvenation, which was introduced in 2008. Health awareness events and general & multi-specialty medical camps are conducted across Tamil Nadu to create awareness on diet, nutrition, disease prevention, personal hygiene and sanitation.

How We Do It

The Problem

According to a World Bank report

  • 1 in 3 of the world's malnourished children live in India. This is worse than most African countries.

  • 50% of the childhood deaths of age 0-18 yrs are because of malnutrition.

  • 8.5 million people die of malnourishment every year in India.

  •  60% of women are anaemic in Tamil Nadu.

 

The section that is most severely affected is children. It negatively impacts a child at a stage where he or she is physically still growing and developing. The damage is largely irreversible and permanent. Though India is one of the fastest-growing and sought after economies of the world, malnourishment levels still remain high. Early intervention is required to reverse this problem, which has long-reaching effects.

Non-availability of food and lack of financial resources are not the only causes of malnutrition. Over the years, myths and misconceptions about food have developed and many people in southern India do not consume nutritious food. It is generally believed that only more expensive foods are healthy. The efficacy of local and easily available food items is often ignored.

People have developed the idea that money is required to maintain a healthy diet. Simple and low cost solutions like growing moringa and papaya trees and or consuming cereals and pulses like ragi, bajra and horsegram are no longer considered.

Added to this is people’s poor knowledge about sanitation and hygiene, which when added to malnourishment, makes people prone to various infectious diseases.

The next factor that was noticed was that people approached doctors at an advanced stage of their illness due to lack of awareness of symptoms of chronic illnesses. This increased their morbidity and rate of mortality.

Our Solution

To address the above, an intense health awareness campaign was launched at the end of December 2007 under the health initiative of ARR.

  • To educate rural people about sustainable health through consumption of indigenous, cost effective, nutritious and locally available food items to prevent malnutrition

  • To promote simple and low cost solutions like growing and consuming drumstick leaves and papaya to make a substantial difference in their health 

  • To create awareness of early symptoms of chronic diseaseslike diabetes, hypertension, anaemia and tuberculosis to reduce morbidity and mortality

Impact of Arokiya Alai

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19

Camps Conducted in 2018

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2, 879

Patients Treated in 2018

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246

Free Cataract Surgeries in 2018

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2041

Camps Since 2008

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3,44,577

Patients Treated Since 2008

Stories about Arogya Alai​

Isha Arokiya Alai – Free Master Health Check-ups for over 6,000 People

Isha Foundation conducted a free medical camp for over 6,000 people on November 17 & 18, in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals and Aravind Eye Hospital.

READ FULL STORY

What You Can Do

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If you are looking for an opportunity reach out and touch lives in rural India, we welcome you to join us!

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CONTACT US

Address:

Isha Yoga Centre, Velliangiri Foothills,

Ishana Vihar Post, Coimbatore,

Tamil Nadu - 641114

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