Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s brainchild, the ‘Swasthya Bandhu’ initiative, has made a striking impact in a remarkably short span, emerging as a flagship outreach programme by delivering health services to more than 10 lakh people in just over two months, a scale that underscores both its swift rollout and growing public reach.
According to the sources in the Health department, more than 10,311 medical camps have been held across the state ever since the initiative was launched in November last year.
Launched by the Chief Minister on November 11, the 110 mobile medical units were initially rolled out to deliver basic healthcare to remote areas, including villages and hilly regions. Currently, around 210 mobile medical units have been operational across the state to provide health services at doorsteps.
These mobile medical units were largely funded through MPs’ development allocations and MPLAD resources. People belonging to the weaker section of society, particularly in the remote areas, have been benefitting from the initiative of the state government as the mobile medical vans were providing services like lab tests, ECG, and USG. Various health facilities, which are normally available in hospitals and health centres, were being extended by these mobile units. The elderly people are those who were getting the most out of the initiative.
These mobile units were providing more than 35 types of tests, including hemoglobin test, complete blood count, pregnancy test, liver function test, uric acid, and kidney tests.
The vans are equipped with modern gadgets, including a nebuliser, USG and ECG machines. Experienced doctors and nursing personnels are there in each mobile van who are seeing the patients.
According to a senior health official, lakhs of needy persons are coming to these camps to avail essential medical services free of cost especially serving aged people and women. The state during the launch of the programme had budgeted roughly Rs 2.5 crore per month to run the services, amounting to about Rs 30 crore per year.