Issue

Global agendas are expanding their focus to ensure that women and babies not only survive but also thrive and reach their full potential for health and well-being. And recognize the ante and postnatal period as a critical time for women and newborns, partners, parents, caregivers and families.

The burden of maternal and child mortality and morbidity remains unacceptably high. Coverage and quality of ante and postnatal care for women and child care tend to be relatively poor. Due to this the focus of maternal and child care and the awareness around it is heavily tilted towards prevention of mortality and morbidity rather than promotion of health.

The first 1,000 days - the period from conception covering the pregnancy and the child’s first two years of life - represent a crucial window of opportunity for facilitating optimal growth and development of children. An eclectic approach with an entire range of opportunities to increase well-being of mothers before, during and after pregnancy and support nurturing newborn care is vital.

Action

Ekam Academy is an educational department run by Ekam foundation with the aim of providing a set of offline and online tools that help to educate facility and community workers about health care system of the society and exclusively in the sphere of maternal and child health. It is designed to act as a single-window system and a sustainable platform to learn, share, and discuss information related to Maternal and Child Health Care.

Ekam foundation strives to foster healthier and more equitable society for all children and families. The foundation is firmly driven to alleviate the misery faced by the deprived and under-privileged sectors of the community due to social and economic inequalities through empowerment of the youth and the community with appropriate knowledge.

The launch of Ekam Academy helps facility and community workers to foster a sustainable society through applying the knowledge of community based health care system and Sustainable Well-being Initiative goals to empower them in making informed choices to live a better lifestyle and overall well-being of the community.

Impact

An efficient and quality system in evaluating and addressing Maternal and Child Health Care needs of the community through Knowledge Research Training and Information (KRTI), Communication, Outreach, and Ekam Health Consultants towards a sustainable solution by focusing and strengthening the following key areas in the organization:

1. Research and develop proposals, concept notes, reports based on the primary and secondary information.
2. An efficient Monitoring and Evaluation system and MIS for all projects at EKAM
3. Standardize and streamline communication material on Maternal and Child Health to provide effective services and help communities adopt positive behavior changes.
4. Map and sign MoU with regional training institutes/ colleges in Tamil Nadu, other states in India, and globally.
5. Develop training modules to build knowledge on the key concept of health, community health, public health, and RMNCHA+ and empower the community
6. Train and build capacities of staffs for smooth implementation at the field level.
7. Build a quality Learning Management System for key courses and promote among the stakeholders.