KWO’s Health Program provides services, advocacy and capacity building to promote better health in our community. Our Health Program activities address common community health issues, like nutrition and hygiene, and we focus on the health needs of women and of children. KWO collaborates with existing community health organisations to support local health workers, to care for patients and the community. We do not offer medical or clinic-based services ourselves.
Our Health Program Co-ordinators are Karen women who live in their communities. Their work includes: to advocate for better access to health services, accompany patients to hospitals or clinics, organise village and stream clean ups, identify health needs of the most vulnerable people and provide support in the home, conduct health education campaigns in the community, share information with families about good health practices, encourage communities to set up kitchen gardens, organise access to clean drinking water, improve village sanitation and the use of built toilets, promote KWO’s key health messages for women’s reproductive health, improve access to safe sanitary materials for all women and girls, monitor any funded KWO Health projects being implemented in their area, educate parents about good nutrition and childcare, advocate for recognition of skilled Traditional Birth Attendants, and for birth registration and birth certificates for all children.
More recently the KWO Health Program has been leading the community education campaign about COVID19 to try to stop the spread of the virus in our community. There are currently 2 funded projects implemented under this program.
