This project aims to reach the hospital to the doorsteps of urban poor and rural people across the state. A mobile facility, ‘Smile on wheels’, which has been running successfully in other states, will be rolled out in Karnataka on Wednesday. The mobile hospital reaches the vicinity of slums and villages, where the poor can access all the basic medical services, maternity services, diagnostic facilities, consultation and health awareness programmes.
On Wednesday, the mobile hospital will cover the slums around Sarjapura Main Road, Doddakanahalli and Yemalur village, situated between HAL Airport of and Bellandur Lake. The first-of-its-kind initiative in the state has been a joint venture of Smile Foundation, an NGO working for the underprivileged children and youth across the country, and Karuna Trust, an NGO with expertise in rendering community-based healthcare services, along with LIC of India.
Majority of the people who stay in slums and villages ignore their health as the facilities are either inaccessible or unaffordable, and end up not seeing a doctor.
On the importance of the initiative, Puja Trisal, Head, Programme and Alliances, Smile Foundation, said, “The ‘Smile on Wheels’ operates by taking well-equipped mobile hospital unit along with specialised doctors, nurses, medical staff, equipment like X-ray machines and medicines to identified villages and slums in a systematic manner. Through this, a range of preventive, promotive and curative healthcare will reach inhabitants.”
She said, “A series of special health camps will also be organised on a regular basis to widen the coverage. Referral services are one of the highlights of this innovative programme. Above all, we will maintain a track record of every patient will do follow-ups on a regular basis.”
A total of 58,000 beneficiaries in Yemalur (25,880) and Doddakanahalli (32,326) will be covered under the programmes first.
Similar projects are being carried out in Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, and they are doing well, she stated.