Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has developed an Information Technology based tool to monitor and improve the health of rural Scheduled Caste (SC) communities in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district, the institute said on Friday. The IT Tool, developed using open-source software, gathers detailed household-level annual health-related information.
The tool also makes an objective assessment of the impact of medical treatment and dietary advice on priority health issues. This would lead to evolving an optimal rural healthcare plan based on treatment efficacy and expenses, the institute said. The project was implemented in E. Palaguttapalli SC and adjoining hamlets, Pakala Mandal and Pulicherla Mandal, in Chittoor district, which has a population of around 100 Scheduled Caste (SC) households, each having 5-6 members, a release from IIT-M said.
In the past, their diet consisted of mainly ragi and other millets, plenty of milk products, fish and other aquatic meat. A doctor team from SV College of Ayurveda, Harnath Chary and Gnana Prasoonaamba visited the villages every two months and helped in the effective implementation of this project. Due to poverty, their current diet is dry and poor, devoid of dals, milk products, or meat. As a result, women and children are severely anemic. Correct dietary advice by expert health practitioners has been able to alleviate the symptoms and IIT Madras efforts were geared towards improving their health.