Priti Meshram

SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action)

SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) is a secular, Mumbai based non-profit organization. It was founded in 1999 by Dr. Armida Fernandez and a group of leading Neonatologists, who together believed that to bring about a substantial change in the health status of the most vulnerable communities, it is necessary to adopt preventive strategies that encompass health and nutrition education. SNEHA works across 4 large public health areas, seeking to improve the health and nutrition of women and children, living in the most vulnerable urban informal settlements: (a) Maternal and Newborn Health (b) Child Health and Nutrition (c) Adolescent Health and Gender Equity (d) Gender-based Violence against Women and Children SNEHA's integrated life-cycle approach seeks to break the inter-generational cycle of poor health, a major by-product of poverty and deprivation. Its life-cycle approach intervenes at critical junctures: adolescence, pregnancy, child-birth, post-partum and early childhood, to bring about improvements in health and nutrition of communities, living in the margins of a mega polis, for which health might not be a priority. SNEHA's tested approach to deliver interventions through partnerships with existing public infrastructure enables us not only to leave behind sustained impact within the infrastructure but also to reach scale. Directed by senior experts with decades of experience in state and municipal governments, SNEHA is in a unique position to form long-term collaborations with the public infrastructure. Our current public sector partners include the World Bank-funded Integrated Child Development Scheme and seven municipal corporations.