In preparation for Mahila Aarogya Haq Parishad (MAHP), AROEHAN held training workshops for activists in the Palghar district. In the immersive two-day experience, activists and helpers from NGOs such as Masoom, Adivasi Sahaj Shiksha Sanstha, Yuva, Kashtari, Adivasi Ekta Ekalavya Parishad, Janavadi Sansthan, Sukhbhumi, Seva Vardhini, We Are For Our Health were present. Teachers and students associated with these organisations and AROEHAN’s activists actively participated in the training. Activist Kajal Jain from Masoom, gave an overview of MAHP, the Maharashtra Women’s Health Rights Conference held annually to cater to problems and preventive care for women’s health along with significant stakeholders from the state.

Jyoti Kelekar provided information about Palghar’s social, topographical, and economic context as well as its current state, including the rate of malnutrition, early pregnancy, mental health, issues and repercussions brought on by development projects, and the absence of water, forests, land, and health facilities.  Brian Lobo provided details regarding the public health department and anaemia. He presented important statistics such as anaemia rates in India are 27% among males, 57% among women, and 69% among teenage girls. Pressing matters such as women being forced to seek health care alternatives due to the lack of gynaecologists in Palghar district’s government hospitals, which occasionally results in situations like maternal deaths were brought up.

AROEHAN’s trustee Anjali Kanitkar, Executive Committee of the Bombay University and College Teachers’ Union (BUCTU), elaborated on the methods to effectively assess these issues such as surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, etc. Tanuja Harad discussed endometriosis, a prevalent disorder related to menstruation, and the lack of specialists, treatments, and awareness for the same.

The Key Issues discussed in the workshop are as follows:

1. Safety of college girls

2. Health of women working in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), insurance services

3. Reproductive health

4. Blood levels and anaemia among out-of-school and school-going girls

5. Malnutrition among pregnant women

6. Collection of data on maternal mortality, child mortality

7. Endometriosis disease and its effects

8. Various contraceptives and their effects on women