A province rich in natural resources, and the fourth most populous in China, Sichuan is home to over 2.7 million people who have little access to quality and affordable basic health and education services. PCD has adopted a “community-based” approach to improve access to these basic services for people in rural areas. A programme promoting village-level health volunteers has been established, and there have been attempts to bridge the communications gap between health service providers and their clients.

In 2005, PCD embarked on an exploration of eco-health and community-based health issues. Attempts were made to root health issues in a more comprehensive and holistic manner in people’s everyday lives. In Tongjiang, Gong and Pingshan Counties, local people and civic groups are encouraged to participate in health and environment-related education and activities to address local needs. Pollution is often taken as an entry point. PCD will consolidate related experiences and continue to pilot initiatives to promote eco-health.

Producers and consumers joining hands

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of organic farms operating in Sichuan. However technical support, in terms of individual expertise and networks in place is still very limited. PCD has strived to identify and support more open-minded local civic groups and platforms to facilitate and build up the learning and practice of ecological agriculture. During the past few years, cooperatives have been formed in Panzhihua to promote mutual help among farmers and good governance in their organisations. In Pi County, PCD works with the Chengdu Urban Rivers Association to raise farmers’ awareness of risks to people’s health and to the ecology posed by conventional farming. Meanwhile, a supportive network of conscious consumers aware of the benefits of organic agricultural products has also been formed. It has helped foster a producer-consumer relationship and rural-urban understanding.

Attempts have been made to increase villagers’ awareness of the inter-dependence between people and the environment. We work in Xiaojin County with local communities to find ways to conserve forests and explore appropriate technology to minimise the negative environmental impacts of human settlement.