Gurugram municipal body plans to expand medical units to serve people in remote locations

Gurugram’s only medical mobile unit, inaugurated in April 2018, has provided free healthcare services to more than 10,000 people living in remote and underserved areas in the district in the last 10 months.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to increase the number of mobile medical units in the district in 2019-20 to expand the civic body’s healthcare coverage, officials privy to the matter said.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to increase the number of mobile medical units in the district in 2019-20 to expand the civic body’s healthcare coverage, officials privy to the matter said. (Picture for representation)

The district’s only medical mobile unit, inaugurated in April 2018, has provided free healthcare services to more than 10,000 people living in remote and underserved areas in the district in the last 10 months, as data with the district health department shows. The civic body plans to get at least two more such units to begin with.

According to Dr Brahmdeep Sandhu, chief medical officer, the MCG’s priority for the year is to provide affordable healthcare at the doorstep. “The municipal corporation has made a proposal to add more medical units. Depending on the budget, the number of vehicles to be added will be decided upon,” he said.

The MCG has, in its budget for the current fiscal, allocated ₹70 crore under the sports and health category, against an estimated budget of ₹10 crore in the last fiscal. Other plans to expand health services include expanding fumigation services and the number of teams that provide such services for dengue control.

According to officials, the district’s medical unit, equipped with oxygen, stretchers, splints, bandages , X-ray machine, dental equipment and suchlike, has covered around 7,000 clusters in areas such as Ghata, Islampur, Bandhwari and Sector 12A, since it was launched.

“A team consisting of a medical officer, a lab technician, a midwife and a driver-cum-support staff visits a pre-decided area every day to attend to people. Blood tests, sugar tests are done and medicines are distributed accordingly,” said Sandeep, staff of the unit. He added that most people he has attended to have deficiency of iron or other blood-related disorders. “We distribute a large number of iron supplements every day. Serious patients are taken to the nearest public health centre,” he said.

Veena Bhati, who teaches a group of around 400 children from underprivileged areas in the district at a ground in Sector 52, said, “The medical unit visits us almost twice a month to conduct blood tests and sugar tests. The doctor monitors our progress and gives medicines to the children who are as young as six years of age.”

Other services include vision-testing, dental care, treatment of diabetes and hypertension, cancer-screening and pregnancy support.