It is about 3 pm, a honk echoes in the quiet surrounding of the 70-households strong Nadukhar village, signalling the arrival of a medical van.
Men and women, mostly senior citizens, start climbing down the winding footpath, some with the help of walking sticks, towards the mobile clinic parked at the entrance of the village.
The driver of the healthcare unit, Gopal Verma, dons the role of an Out-Patient Department (OPD) clerk, takes out a bunch of files containing medical histories of patients in Nadukhar and starts making entries as the villagers queue up for their turn.
Dr Balakram Kashyap is ready with his stethoscope and blood pressure measuring machine to examine the patients. Sunita, the pharmacist, takes a seat at the window with a stockpile of medicines and a sugar testing kit. This is the scenario every Friday in this village in Sunni tehsil of Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh.
“Most of the people who come to us suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, joint pains, sore throat, fever or some common ailment,” says Dr Kashyap, who, after retiring from government service, is working on this project funded by the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), being executed by HelpAge India. The patients are not charged any fee for medicines, medical check-ups or the sugar test.
Why patients queue up
Patient Koru Devi (73) is satisfied that her blood pressure has come down a little since last week, but it is still on the high side. Today she is also suffering from diarrhoea. “It is good that doctor sahib comes here, otherwise it is difficult for elderly people like us to go to the government-run health centre several km away,” she says.
Roshana, who also has high sugar and joint pains, expresses a similar sentiment as she waits for her turn to be examined by the doctor. If some patients are unable to walk up to where the medical van is parked, the doctor visits their homes. Today, however, there is no such request.
Over 20 patients come on an average in small villages like Nadukhar. In a bigger gram panchayat or semi urban area, like Sunni, there is a heavy rush of patients. Before reaching Nadukhar, the medical team began its day at Sunni at 8.30 am.
In Sunni, apart from the locals, people come from neighbouring hamlets and villages to seek medical advice. Today, Leela Sharma has come from Jamog village about 4 km from Sunni. “When I came here for the first time, my sugar level was over 500 but now it is almost under control.” She, however, has to continue medication and get her sugar levels checked periodically.
Chunni Lal, a farmhand, has also come from Jamog. His wife says she pitches in with her earnings if she is able to obtain work on an MNREGA project. He is suffering from high fever and a cold. Like him, on an average, almost a hundred patients come to the mobile unit parked outside the SJVN office in Sunni where chairs are laid out for patients who are waiting.
When asked why they choose the Mobile Health Care Unit (MHU) over the government hospital here, they all echo the same reply. “The doctor takes time to do the medical check-up properly and explains politely about the dosage. Besides, the medicine is free.” One of the patients says that at the hospital, the doctors don’t have time and often medicines have to be obtained from the market.
Each week, the unit travels to different villages, from Monday to Friday. It covers 22 villages under 11 gram panchayats. “We visit the villages on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis according to the requirement,” says the doctor.
In all, five such MHUs are being run along the Satluj River in the State to provide free medical services and medicines in rural areas. Through these, special health camps are also held and people made aware of preventive measures. “Mostly the camps are held at fairs but if we see a gathering of a large number of patients in a village, we use the opportunity to educate them on different diseases or epidemics,” says Dr Kashyap.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi