‘One Health’ is defined as the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines—working locally, nationally, and globally—to attain optimal health for people, animals and the environment. Envisioned to have a broad and growing scope, the concept of ‘One Health’ provides an opportunity for the convergence of public health and conservation for mutual benefit.
Caring for Conservators: Preventive Healthcare for Forest Staff
Frontline forest staff deployed in India’s Protected Areas (PAs) work under very stressful conditions. Extreme weather, long and strenuous patrols, and encounters with armed poachers, lead to high incidences of stress-related diseases. Apart from exposure to communicable diseases such as malaria, they are also vulnerable to chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and hypertension. The remoteness of their locations, coupled with lack of affordable and quality healthcare, exacerbates the problem.
WCT addresses this problem by conducting health check-up camps and providing preventive healthcare to frontline forest staff, free of cost.
The Caring for Conservators (CFC) programme addresses NCD risk factors by focusing on the following parameters:
- Blood pressure
- Diabetes risk
- Lifestyle factors like diet and exercise
- Calculation of body mass index
- Measurement of waist circumference
- Point-of-care glucose and lipid level tests which provides instant results
The findings are entered into a ‘Health Diagnostic’ software to assess the impact of NCD-risks for the forest staff, by calculating the medical age of the heart (heart age) as compared to the individual’s chronological age.
Forest staff are provided with a comprehensive understanding of their heart’s health, and its potential impact on longevity.
The programme has so far benefitted over 18,000 members of frontline forest staff from 30 PAs across seven states, and is being run in partnership with Tulsi Foundation, UK.
Trauma Management Training
Globally, India ranks first in on-duty mortality of frontline forest staff. Between 2012 and 2023, India accounted for 397 ranger (frontline forest staff) deaths, according to the International Ranger Federation.
Through the ‘Trauma Management Training’, we impart necessary knowledge and skills to the frontline forest staff, enabling them to respond to emergencies effectively. These skills prove invaluable for the forest staff posted at remote locations with limited availability of healthcare services.
These one-day training sessions are aimed at imparting basic-first aid and trauma management techniques, and include an overview of trauma-care, guidance on methods to deal with emergencies such as injuries due to animal or human attacks, vehicular trauma, fall from a height, snake and scorpion bites, burns and heat-strokes, high-grade fevers and epilepsy attacks. Group exercises in simulated field settings provide a hands-on experience for the forest staff.
Over 3000 frontline forest staff from 19 PAs spanning six states have been trained under this programme, run in partnership with Tulsi Foundation, UK.
We have also developed and distributed a ‘First Aid Field Guide for Forest Staff’, that provides a ready-reference for managing emergencies which they are likely to face in the field.
Key figures from WCT’s health needs assessment of 1,369 forest staff from 18 PAs across five states.
Vann Aarogya Android App
The Vann Aarogya mobile application, developed by WCT, is a pioneering solution for the health and well-being of forest staff. This innovative application serves as a comprehensive platform that addresses the unique health and medical emergency challenges faced by forest staff in remote areas.
With a user-friendly interface and multilingual support, it offers the following:
Health Information
This section includes resources on nutrition, exercise, water and sanitation, blood pressure and blood glucose management, mental health, oral health, obesity and cholesterol, women’s health, and quitting alcohol and smoking.
First Aid Training Videos
This section offers comprehensive first aid training videos specially produced for frontline forest staff, to equip them with essential life-saving skills in emergencies. These cover responses to emergencies like choking, severe bleeding, fractures, major trauma, seizures, snakebites, and much more.
Find Health Facility
WCT has mapped the nearest public health facilities for all the PAs from the States of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, and these are made available in this section with precise Google location and phone numbers, so that frontline forest staff can avail medical care in the shortest time during emergencies.
To ensure that communities living in the buffer zones of PAs have access to quality healthcare, WCT has, in the past, run the following programme:
Strengthening Forest Dispensaries
The ratio of medical facilities to beneficiaries is worryingly low in remote areas–only a handful of India’s PAs have forest dispensaries. These dispensaries are designed to cater to forest staff and villagers living in and around India’s forests. WCT has supported the upgradation and smooth functioning of these facilities to improve healthcare access for local communities and forest staff.
Overview of the Health Programme
Caring For Conservators Preventive Health Check-up for Forest Staff – Bor & Pench Tiger Reserves, And Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra – Project Report 2021-2022
As part of WCT’s vision to improve the working conditions for the forest staff, preventive health checkups were conducted under the ‘Caring for Conservators’ programme between October 4-7, 2021, at Umred-Pauni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary (UPKWLS) and Bor Tiger Reserve (BTR), and between December 4-11, 2021, at Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra (PTR).
112 forest staff members benefited through eight preventive health check-ups at four locations.
Caring For Conservators Preventive Health Check-up for Forest Staff – Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra – Project Report 2021-2022
As part of WCT’s vision to improve the working conditions for the forest staff, preventive health check-ups were conducted under the ‘Caring for Conservators’ programme between December 13-20, 2021, at the Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra.
151 forest staff benefited through six preventive health check-ups at five locations.
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Related Links
- Conservation Strategy
- Communities
- 12,000 Forest Officers Trained in Wildlife Law Enforcement
- Reinforcing Protection