Bangalore: The ‘phone maaduinitiative that helped sex workers in parts of Karnataka get easy access to doctors and quality health care during COVID-19 times without being stigmatized and ensuring anonymity now seeks to further expand by taking advantage of technology and expand to benefit other marginalized sectors. ‘Maadu Phone’ (or telephone health clinic) it’s a telehealth initiative of ‘Ashodaya Samiti‘, a sex worker-led organization located in Mysuru, with a system organically evolving from the need expressed by the community during the COVID-19 lockdown and lack of accessibility to healthcare services.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Monday released the ‘Phone Maadu’ report documenting how Ashodaya’s innovation promoted and provided changes in the way healthcare is delivered to sex workers.
“With Phone Maadu (conceived by and for the community), we can talk wholeheartedly and everything is confidential,” Devika, a sex worker, was quoted as saying.
‘Phone Maadu’ is a telemedicine-based approach to connect community members with doctors, using phone calls, WhatsApp and SMS to send and search for information. Many sex workers preferred ‘Phone Maadu’ to face-to-face medical visits, as they enjoyed the confidentiality it provided and the convenience of expressing themselves openly on the mobile phone.
Among the benefits of the system mentioned by the community is: “No stigma; they can speak openly without feeling shy, whereas when they go to government/private facilities, they will most likely face some degree of stigma due to their identity.”
While Ashodaya launching ‘Phone Maadu’ health service and making it a success among sex workers can be seen as a ‘one off’ initiative, it could be rolled out in two to three other places such as Gujarat, West Bengal and Maharashtra, before going on a “national scale,” says Ashodaya’s team.
While Ashodaya, a community of more than 8,000 sex workers, said it is committed to continuing the program, it is concerned about how it can be financed and is seeking support.
“The perception within the community is that ‘Phone Maadu’ provided them with easy access to medical care, minimizing the difficulties of travel, their expenses and the loss of income that comes with conventional medical care,” the report says.
The pivot on which the ‘Phone Maadu’ rests is the doctor. The program’s doctors have had experience working with Ashodaya before.
“Successful implementation of this program among community sex worker programs could have a transformative impact,” said an official on Ashodaya’s team.
Ashodaya says that he is now considering expanding the program by leveraging technology to make it more streamlined and efficient.
It has recommended the creation of a model that can be implemented in other parts of the country and for the benefit of other communities.
Ashodaya will keep ‘Phone Maadu’ as an ongoing activity, and is also looking to raise funds locally or from doctors to use technology to eliminate repetitive tasks and make scheduling easier, a team member said.
Ashodaya has proposed a new system to remove the reliance on the middleman to schedule medical appointments and put all the power in the hand of the user, providing a 24/7 medical consultation service that can be used by all.
