District Disability Rehabilitation Center

The inability of the disable persons to aptly match to the changing situations in their family circle and communities as well as their lack of proper scope for esteemed survival are some of the basic reasons that inspired the organization to plan for such an endeavor. It focuses on participatory development of those differently able persons with scope for building an environment of enabling alongside a process of social inclusion and mainstreaming.
Keeping in view the above situation, the organization has set up one District Disability Rehabilitation Centre at Old DHH building, Dhenkanal and catering the basic needs of the people with disability and their family members and community on their rights, welfare schemes of central and state government in favour of PwDs to bring them into mainstream of society to participate & enjoy gain from development initiatives at local level. The program has been started in February 2021 with formal inauguration by the Collector and District Magistrate in the presence of district level officers.
The organisation has engaged both technical and supportive staff in the program and provided the equipment`s to the Centre for the benefit of the PwDs with due facilities. The Centre is now full-fledged functional and rendering the services and facilities to the needy PwDs in a single window system with Orthopaedic, Physiotherapy, Hearing Impaired & Speech practice and welfare wings. Some of the detailed actions of the Centre are :
– Survey & identification of persons with disabilities through camp approach
– facilitation of disability certificate, bus passes and other concession/facilities for persons with disabilities; assisting in the issue of Unique Disability Identity Card (UDID) to divyangjan in the District;
– Awareness Generation for encouraging and enhancing prevention of disabilities, early detection and intervention
– Early Intervention and facilitating Insurance Schemes launched by the National Trust/Department for Divyangjan
– Assessment of need of assistive devices, provision/fitment of assistive devices, follow up/repair of assistive devices
– Therapeutic Services e.g. Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy etc.
– Referral and arrangement of surgical correction through Govt. & Charitable institutes
– Arrangement of loans for self-employment, through banks & other financial institutions
– Counseling of persons with disabilities, their parents & family members

Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts :

Though the drug- menace is universal, we in India and for that matter in Odisha suffer hugely and that too on many fronts including personal, communal, social and developmental fronts. In all, the drug devil eclipses almost all aspects of a normal, personal and social life and thereby causing the greatest damage. And with all humility in place, AIRA attempts at employing its positive action force towards countering the evil and to bring possible good into the individual and family–cum- social life of the drug victim or say the drug abuser.
Dhenkanal and Angul districts are the drug sensitive and vulnerable districts of Odisha. Illegal trafficking of drugs and its abuse is rampant in different areas of the districts. The ongoing Drug Abuse Monitoring System (DAMS) conducted by AIRA regularly indicates that drug abuse pattern is increasing day by day in these districts due to inadequate intervention to aware the people of its consequences. Availability of Narcotic Analgesic such as Opium, Chupi( extract of Poppy), Heroine, Brown Sugar etc. in the open market possesses a big threat and ruined the socio-economic condition of the people. Most of the people especially service men, school and college youths, daily labourers, mining workers get trapped in drug net and ruin their life.
So, to tackle such issues by educating and creating awareness among general masses on the consequences and illicit trafficking of drugs the organisation AIRA has been implementing Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts with 15 beds capacity in Dhenkanal and Angul districts with the support of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India. The program caters services like OPD, IPD, counseling, follow-up, vocational training (to the IPD cases), rehabilitation and re-integration.

Prevention of HIV/AIDS through Targeted Intervention :

Targeted Intervention is a versignificant component of National AIDS Control program. The intervention provides comprehensive andintegrated approach for HIV prevention among the marginalized and vulnerable populations such afemale sex worker, (FSW) and men having sex with men (MSM) etc. AIRA as a partner organisation witState AIDS Control Society, Govt. of Odisha implementing the Targeted Intervention program iDhenkanal district since the year 2009 with the following activities covering 200 FSWs and 200 MSMs:
Major activities
1. Interpersonal behavior change communication (BCC)
2. Promotion/ distributions of Condoms
3. Provision of services for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
4. Linkages to Integrated Counseling and Testing Centers (ICTCs)
5. Advocacy for Enabling Environment
6. Community Mobilization for good practices and non-stigmatization

Outreach & Drop in Centre :

AIRA is implementing the programme Outreach Drop in Centre “ funded by National Institute of Social Development (NISD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment” under National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction(NAPDDR) since November 2019 in Cuttack district, Odisha. The main objective of the programme is to conduct outreach activities in the community for prevention of drug abuse with a special focus on youth who are dependent on drugs and to provide safe and secure place for drug abusers in the community. The activities includes Community awareness Programme, Out Reach Camps, Screening and assessment of Clients, Individual Counseling , BCC, O.P.D. ,Group Session, Referral and Follow Up etc.

Maternal and Child Health

Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, child birth and the postpartum period. It encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, parental and postnatal care in order to ensure a positive and fulfilling experience, in most cases, and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Maternal health revolves around the health and wellness of women, particularly when they are pregnant, at the time they give birth, and during child-raising. WHO has indicated that even though motherhood has been considered as a fulfilling natural experience that is emotional to the mother, a high percentage of women go through a lot of challenges where they suffer health-wise and sometimes even die. Because of this, there is a need to invest in the health of women. The investment can be achieved in different ways, among the main ones being subsidizing the healthcare cost, education on maternal health, encouraging effective family planning, and ensuring progressive check up on the health of women with children.