Santhwanam

Santhwanam is a major intervention of Kudumbashree in the Health sector. With lifestyle diseases on the rise, a visit to hospitals and clinics for periodical check ups has become common among the poor as well as the elite. This prompted Kudumbashree to think of an alternative and thus Santhwanam project became part of Kudumbashree livelihood programmes.
Santhwanam is a collaborative effort of Kudumbashree, Health Action by People (HAP) and the State Bank of India (SBI). Women from Kudumbashree families having a plus-two education or graduation in science are selected for enterprises. They are given seven days of intensive training on technical inputs and personality development by HAP, an NGO headed by a group of committed doctors. The entrepreneurs are trained in checking the height, body weight, body mass index, cancer detection, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol of people they visit at home to check on their diseases. The medical equipments and strips required for the check ups are supplied by HAP.
Kudumbashree imparts performance improvement training to these people after every six months of functioning. The Santhwanam groups also take part in fairs and festivals, where they get plenty of patients to carry out check ups on and earn a good income. This is in addition to the regular house visits they undertake for periodic check ups. The main benefit of this scheme is that the periodic check ups give individuals a warning about their state of health so that they can go to a hospital in time for further treatment if necessary.