icrc-annual-report-2013

hygiene-promotion sessions. About 1,050 of them in 10 remoterural settlements in Bijapur district accessed safe drinking waterowing to the installation/rehabilitation of hand pumps, whileothers started using water filters and pots. In coordination withthe state’s Public Health Engineering and Tribal DevelopmentDivision, teachers and 308 schoolchildren, also in Bijapur district,participated in hygiene-education sessions, such as storytelling.Good working relations with the state’s health authorities enabledthe provision of immunizations and mother and child care andthe implementation of malaria-prevention activities, as well asthe strengthening of a patient referral system (see Wounded andsick). Some 14,500 vulnerable people accessed curative and preventivecare at ICRC-supported health facilities. They included10,799 patients who received such services at the rehabilitated primaryhealth centres in Kutru, Bijapur and in Chintalnar, Sukmaand 3,660 patients who visited a mobile health unit providingweekly services in three locations. On-site health-education sessionshelped people living in remote areas protect themselvesagainst illness and disease.In Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, around 1,700 people from 36 villageswith limited access to the state’s health services benefited froman ICRC-supported National Society mobile health unit, whichprovided preventive and curative care and conducted healtheducationsessions. These activities came to an end in June.Communities in 18 villages in Mokokchung, Nagaland, enjoyedbetter basic health care at the rehabilitated Health and SocialWelfare Ministry-run Tzurangkong primary health centre. Theproject was formally turned over by the ICRC to the ministryin April.Released detainees ease their social reintegration throughhealth and material assistanceMore released detainees in Jammu and Kashmir accessed medicalassistance with around 50 of them benefiting from medicalconsultations. Following ICRC home visits, 35 released detaineesreceived physical and mental health care from specialists and someof them also had their expenses covered.Over 1,700 people (families of 205 detainees and 99 releaseddetainees) covered their basic needs through distributions of clothing,utensils, hygiene kits and school materials for students. Nearly200 former detainees or relatives of detainees set up businessessuch as clothing shops with the help of cash grants or productiveinputs, boosting their income and benefiting 1,044 people.No National Society/ICRC relief and livelihood activities forvulnerable communities in other parts of India took place.PEOPLE DEPRIVED OF THEIR FREEDOMAmong those detained in India were people held in connectionwith the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, some outsidethe state. They continued to receive ICRC visits, conductedaccording to the organization’s standard procedures. Particularattention was paid to vulnerable inmates, such as foreigners,minors and the mentally ill. The authorities concerned and ICRCdelegates discussed confidentially delegates’ findings and recommendationsregarding detainees’ treatment and living conditions,including their access to medical care and respect for their judicialguarantees. Dialogue with the authorities continued, with a view togaining full access to all detainees held in relation to the prevailingsituation in Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the existingagreement between the authorities and the ICRC.Owing to limited contact with police officials in the state, discussionsabout internationally recognized standards applicable toarrest and detention could not be pursued.Prison and health authorities discuss ways to improvehealth care for detaineesPrison/health authorities and the ICRC continued to work togetherto improve health care for detainees. A health in detention seminarbrought together, for the first time, nearly 50 representativesfrom the Health and Medical Education and Prisons Department– including prison medical officers and jail superintendents – inJammu and Kashmir. After discussing international standards onhealth in detention, the participants called for better cooperationamongst themselves and set out steps to improve their services.A total of 35 detainees received follow-up visits from ICRC doctors,while 44 in Srinagar Central Jail enhanced their mental wellbeingwith the help of regular fortnightly visits conducted by twolocal psychiatrists, who used ICRC-provided neurological examinationkits during their consultations. No material support wasprovided to vulnerable detainees.Over 100 detainees in India maintained contact with their relativesthrough ICRC-facilitated family visits. In Bhutan, 20 inmates werePEOPLE DEPRIVED OF THEIR FREEDOM BHUTAN INDIAICRC visitsDetainees visited 451of whom women 1of whom minors 8Detainees visited and monitored individually 411of whom women 1of whom minors 8Detainees newly registered 146of whom women 1of whom minors 5Number of visits carried out 30Number of places of detention visited 17Restoring family linksRCMs collected 1RCMs distributed 10Phone calls made to families to inform them of the whereabouts of a detained relative 8Detainees visited by their relatives with ICRC/National Society support 20 103ICRC NEW ANNUAL DELHI REPORT (REGIONAL) 2013 | 339