Background

Every day, millions of children in India wake up to a battle they didn't choose: the fight for survival against preventable diseases caused by poor hygiene. A report published by UNICEF in 2015 stated that over 568 million people in India lacked access to basic sanitation, which is a staggering number given that it amounts to almost half of India’s population. The situation has continued to depreciate, intensifying India’s long battle with public health concerns, which disproportionately plagues people from underserved communities. As such, these communities face excessive risks, including the transmission of diseases. The group most vulnerable to the dangers of this situation are children, whose health and development are heavily dependent on the levels of hygiene and safety in their immediate environment. 

Affected communities have limited chances of decreasing these risks given the lack of access to hygiene products, welfare schemes, and awareness about hygiene. As such, many of the most common diseases that ail such communities are preventable ones, borne out of microbial contamination, such as diarrhea and respiratory infections. Things get further complicated when parents from underserved communities do not have the resources or information to teach their children healthy habits, thus perpetuating a cycle of illness and other undesirable outcomes. 

Swasth India was created to address precisely this problem, with the goal of ensuring that children from vulnerable communities are equipped with the tools and information to partake in proper hygiene practices. By connecting them with existing government resources, the project hopes to make a lasting impact on public health in India. Since many of these issues are perpetuated through unjust cycles, the vision of the project is to empower people to break out of the cycles that limit their safety and potential.