Health Nutrition

Health and Nutrition Strategies of the MEPMA

 Context

               Mission for Elimination of poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) is a registered society set-up by the government of Andhra Pradesh to address all the poverty issues in urban areas. Mission has taken up the task of organizing the poor and builds community based organizations (CBOs) and nurture them, so that they become strong, self-reliant and self managed institutions. It is expected that these institutions will play a catalytic role in securing the basic services and improve the livelihood of poor families. It is also aimed that these CBOs become channelising agencies for all the poverty alleviation measures adopted by the central and State Governments in urban areas. As part of its various activities MEPMA has started of training programme aimed at developing a strong social capital on health base to all urban local bodies of Andhra Pradesh. 

             The MEPMA has specific strategies to address issues of health and nutrition services that are essential for the urban poor through empowering the communities and creating an enabling environment in MEPMA 

             MEPMA has taken up the task of organizing the poor and build Community Based Organizations nurture them in all aspects of community health so that they become strong, self-reliant and self managed institutions in health and nutrition aspects. It is also aimed that these CBOs become channelising agencies for all the urban health issues adopted by the Central and State Government

            Over the past two to three decades, our understanding of poverty has broadened from a narrow focus on income and consumption to a multidimensional notion of education, health, social and political participation, personal security and freedom and environmental quality. Thus it encompasses not just low income but lack of access to services resources and skills, vulnerability insecurity and voiceless ness and powerlessness. Multidimensional poverty is a determinant of health risks, health seeking behavior, health care access and health outcomes. 

            It is estimated that about 70% of the worlds poor are women. Indicators of human poverty, including health indicators, often reflect severe gender-based disparities. In this way gender inequality is a significant determinant of health outcomes in the region with women and girls often at a severe societal disadvantage

           Health along education is seen as one of the key ultimate goals of development. Indeed, increasingly health is seen as a dimension of poverty in its own right. This is reflected in the fact that no less than 4 of the 7 Millennium Development Goals relate to health broadly defined