When the Barefoot College, Tilonia started working in the Silora Block in 1972, one of the needs identified by the community was the area of health. 'Health' meant better mother & child care, hygiene, prevention and control of common diseases, curative services, as well as pre-natal, natal and post-natal care. The College took up the initiative of community health care in 1973. It has been visualised and implemented in a process that complements the existing government health infra-structure. The programmes are as follows:

Immunization
The Barefoot College has motivated and mobilised rural communities to understand the significance of immunization particularly for women and children. The medical teams work in close association with existing government health infra-structures to administer vaccines, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus Toxoids (DPT), Polio, Measles, Diphtheria Tetanus (DT) to children between the age of 0-1, and Tetanus Toxoids (TT) to mothers.

Programme	Details	Total
Immunization	BCG – No of Children	695
	Children D.P.T. I	711
	Children D.P.T. II	539
	Children D.P.T. III	511
	Child Polio doses	253
	Child Measles	470

Mother and child care
Through a network of rural midwives it provides mother & child care facilities to rural communities. These midwives are trained to perform safe and hygienic deliveries as well as provide timely pre-natal, natal and post-natal health care facilities such as immunization, urine and hemoglobin tests, and weight and height check.

Programme	Details	Total
Mother and Child Welfare	New expectant mothers	1044
	Old expectant mothers	446
	Total deliveries	1024
	Deliveries performed in Hospital	579
	Deliveries performed at Home	445
	Deliveries performed by trained midwives	407
	Deliveries performed by un-trained midwives	38
	No of midwives	50
	T.T. I – No doses	463
	T.T. II – No doses	405
	Urine Tests of Expectant Mothers	881
	Hemoglobin Tests of Women	946
	Weighing of Expectant Mothers	1175
	Blood Group of Expectant Mothers	819

Medical camps
The section participates in camps organised by the government and reputed private clubs. It motivates and mobilises villagers to attend camps for dental treatment, family planning, mental wellness, physically challenged, Eye, ENT and homeopathic that are organised in the villages. Regular follow-up measures are taken by the health team as well.

Programme	Details	Total
Camps	Homeopathic camps	3
	Villages	7
	Person	64
	Physically Challenged Camps	3
	Villages	101
	Total Person	255
	General Camps	2
	Villages	87
	Total Person	1520
	Eye Camps	1
	Villages	5
	Total Person	124

Tuberculosis Control
Since 1974, the medical team diagnoses and treats an average of 25 tuberculosis patients every year. Timely treatment, follow-up and distribution of medicines have enabled 650 patients from 260 villages to recover from tuberculosis.

Programme	Details	Total
Tuberculosis Patient	No of T.B. Patients	91
	Total no of villages	29

Out patient dispensary
A small Out Patient Dispensary was established in Tilonia in 1974. Today, it dispenses basic allopathic, bio-chemic and homeopathic medicines for treating minor illnesses to more than 5000 patients from in and around Tilonia, every year.

Programme	Details	Total
Out Patient Dispensary	Total no of persons for treatment	2423
	New Patient	1509
	Old Patient	925
	Patient Admitted	166
	Persons referred to	49

Family welfare
Barefoot midwives and health workers counsel and help rural couples to access family planning camps and facilities. Free monthly camps for vasectomy and tubectomy are organized where Government surgeons conduct laparoscopic operations. Since 1975, 6,827 women and 11 men from 300 villages have attended family planning camps. The medical team also keeps a stock of condoms, copper-T and contraceptive pills for those who wish to use them.

Programme	Details	Total
Out Patient Dispensary	Sterilisation	187
	Villages	35
	Users of contraceptives	671
	Contraceptives Pills used	1604
	Copper T used	21

Medical check ups
Every three months, children (between the age of 0-14) who attend Barefoot Balvadi (rural creches), day and night school, undergo thorough medical check ups where their weight, height, arm and chest is measured. Barefoot doctors and health workers have checked more than 1,25,000 such children from rural villages.

Programme	Details	Total
Health Check - ups	Night schools	121x3
	No of Villages	121
	No of boys	682
	No of girls	2095
	Total	2777
	Pre-schools Education Centres	71x3
	Villages	71
	Boys	614
	Girls	944
	Total	1558

Training and health education
700 rural midwives, 480 health workers, 510 Balsevika (creche teachers) and 714 night school teachers have been trained to administer bio-chemic medicine and talk about the significance of health, hygiene, sanitation, immunization, food and nutrition. They cater to the health awareness needs of rural men, women, children through monthly meetings and regular workshops are organized by the Barefoot College.

Programme	Details	Total
Training	No of Midwives trained	17
	No of Monthly Meetings of Midwives	12
	Physically Challenged Women Making Sanitary Napkins	7
	Training duration of sanitary napkins units	6 month
	Duration of Training

Use of homeopathic, allopathic and bio-chemic health care
The Barefoot doctors and health workers can choose between homeopathic, bio-chemic and allopathic medicines to treat patients with minor ailments. They train semi-literate and illiterate Barefoot health workers, midwives and balsevikas to administer bio-chemic medicines to adults and children. These medicines are easy to administer and do not have side effects. Homeopathic and allopathic medicines are prescribed only by Barefoot doctors based in Tilonia. Since 1986, the College has been using bio-chemic medicines. Bio-chemic medicines are a set of 12 medicines which can be combined and used for different ailments.

Programme	Details	Total
Camps	Homeopathic camps	3
	Villages	7
	Person	64
	Physically Challenged Camps	3
	Villages	101
	Total Person	255
	General Camps	2
	Villages	87
	Total Person	1520
	Eye Camps	1
	Villages	5
	Total Person	124

Pathology laboratory
A small pathology laboratory has been established in the new campus of Tilonia. In 2002, 2 rural physically challenged youth were trained to conduct blood tests for checking hemoglobin, sugar, malaria and ESR, urine tests for testing bile, sugar and pregnancy, and sputum tests for tuberculosis. More than 24,834 tests have been conducted till date. These rural pathologists have no medical degrees, but are able to conduct tests and diagnose common ailments found in rural communities such as malaria, tuberculosis, blood sugar and anemia.

Programme	Details	Total
Pathological Laboratory	Sputum Tests	91
	Villages	29
	Hemoglobin Tests	352
	Villages	35
	Vidal Tests	59
	Villages	7
	Urine Tests (sugar, Protein, Bile)	760
	Villages	65
	Malaria Tests	465
	Villages	32
	TLC Tests	167
	DLC Tests	167
	Villages	34
	Blood Group Tests	53
	Villages	8
	Blood Sugar Tests	61
	Villages	15
	ESR Tests	157
	Villages	29

Dental Hygiene and Care
Dental hygiene is an important issue that affects most of the children attending Night Schools as well as pre-school education centers(crèches). In 2010, a team of two illiterate were trained as barefoot dentist. The training was on "hands on" on the job practical, where the women equipped themselves with elementary skill skills needed to safeguard dental hygiene. As a result a dental chair has been established in Tilonia. All children and adults living in villages around Tilonia have undergone dental checkup.

Programme	Details	Total
Dental Care	Children Dental Check-up	465
	Villagers	240

 

Sanitary Napkins
For the first time ever in the history of Rajasthan, the issue sanitary hygiene of rural women has been met with by establishing a Sanitary Napkin Making Unit. At this unit physically challenged rural women produce sanitary napkins. Barefoot college’s Network of rural midwives, health workers and decentralized field centers are marketing the napkin.