Close to 60 per cent of the Capital’s population lives in urban villages. Yet, the health quotient of this segment is ignored by the Government. Under a new initiative launched by the Bal Umang Drishya Sanstha (BUDS) and PwC India Foundation in collaboration with Delhi Government, a health mobile van that will help to solve primary health problems of people in these areas.
“This is the first mobile van of its kind to be dedicated to children under 18 with a special focus on children under six as they are the most vulnerable segment due to the unhygienic conditions they live in,” says Dr Rajeev Seth, managing trustee of BUDS. Even though giving healthcare services to rural areas has been top agenda for leading NGOs in India, the segment continues to battle health issues arising out of bad sanitation. Called the Child Mobility Health Centre, this state-of-the-art facility is equipped with software that provides patient information at the press of a button. The patients are met outside the van by a paramedical worker who records the vital parameters of the patient, including height, weight and general health test. The van is focused on areas with densest populations and inadequate health care facilities, like Mori Gate, Sarai Kale Khan, Nizamuddin, Phool Mandi and Rajendra Market in Old Delhi and the Ghasera village in Mewat district of Haryana. — Akanksha Soni