Mohalla clinics served 16.24 million people in four years: Delhi health minister
Run by the Delhi government, offer basic out-patient treatment for fever, pain and other common ailments between 8am and 1pm six days a week.
For 15-year-old Sia Saini, the mohalla clinic in her neighbourhood is proving to be of great help. Having undergone heart surgery, Saini has been visiting the Hanuman Mandir mohalla clinic in Kashmere Gate regularly for the last six months.
“She just needed a follow-up for which we didn’t really have to go to the main hospital where she underwent the surgery. The doctor told us we could show her locally. The doctor here is good and we have been quite satisfied with the clinic,” Rajendra Kumar, her father, said.
Kumar is among many residents who are more than relieved to access health care facilities closer home and without burning a hole in their pocket.
Run by the Delhi government, offer basic out-patient treatment for fever, pain and other common ailments between 8am and 1pm six days a week.
The mohalla clinics have provided outpatient department services to more than 16.24 million people in four years since the launch of the first clinic in July 2015, Delhi’s health minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday. Around 80% of the patients are women, children and elderly people, the minister added. In the same period, the mohalla clinics have conducted more than 1.53 million pathological tests.
Aimed at providing primary healthcare to Delhi residents, the clinics are a flagship project of the Aam Aadmi Party-run Delhi government.
Currently, 221 operational mohalla clinics, operating from 201 portable cabins spread across the city. At least 20 of them operate in two shifts, with separate sets of doctors, pharmacists and assistants, Jain said.
The minister also said the government wants to take the total number of clinics to 1,000 in the future.
“To a large extent, the mohalla clinics have saved Delhi from the menace of quacks. It also provides a great benefit to people. For consultancy, they get to visit the same doctor in each follow-up, much like how it works in private clinics. We want to take the total number of such clinics in the city to 1,000,” Jain said.
The government is also working on converting government dispensaries into polyclinics, Jain added. As many as 24 such polyclinics are operational across Delhi now and work on developing 94 others is in progress. The aim is to set up 126 such polyclinics by mid-2020, the minister said.