With the strengthening of health facilities in inaccessible rural areas being one of its top priorities, the Himachal Pradesh Government has deployed mobile medical units to provide quality health services to people in the entire state, not to be left out those residing in remote rural areas.

Informing about the healthcare facility, a Health Department official said that the state government has taken many innovative initiatives to reach out to people living in every nook and corner of the state with better health facilities at their doorsteps.

With the aim to provide health facilities to the remote areas, Jeevan Dhara Mobile Ambulance Service and Mobile Medical Unit Service have been started in the state. For the first time in the state, priority is being given to provide health facilities to the most inaccessible, deprived and backward areas of the state through these services by deploying doctors and other paramedical staff in these mobile units, he added.

He stated that this was the first time in the state that health facilities were taken out of the four walls of hospitals to the village through mobile health units. For this, the state government deployed about 10 mobile ambulances through the health department. Through these mobile medical units, OPD facility is also being provided along with screening of other diseases including blood pressure, diabetes and cancer. After the health check-up, treatment and medicines related to the disease are also being provided to the patients.

In the initial phase, the health facilities through Jeevan Dhara mobile ambulance service are being provided to the seven districts viz. Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur and Solan, which fall in inaccessible and remote areas.

Two Jeevan Dhara mobile ambulances have been deployed in Kangra, Mandi and Shimla districts and one each in Chamba, Kullu, Sirmaur and Solan districts. As many as 2,131 camps were organized in difficult areas during the last one year through this service.

Besides, about 86,544 OPDs, NCD i.e. blood pressure and sugar testing of 15,588 cases, examination of 1,352 pregnant women and 64,440 tests related to various diseases were done through this service. A total of 1,04,608 people have been tested in OPD and 74,273 different types of laboratory tests have been done through these mobile units.

The service has done a great job in saving precious human lives even during the COVID-19 crisis. With a view to prevent this pandemic, the state government has provided facilities to the common people through this service by ensuring access to Covid vaccination, treatment facilities of the common flu and medicines at door steps.

With the aim of providing relief to the patients suffering from serious kidney diseases in the state and providing a dialysis facility at home to such patients, in collaboration with the Hans Foundation Charity Trust of Uttarakhand. To facilitate the patients suffering from kidney disease, the state government signed an MoU with this trust on 5th January, 2022 and started 40 medical mobile units and 10 dialysis centers in the state, in which free treatment facilities are provided for kidney disease. This service was duly started in the state by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on 10th March, 2022.

In the 10 dialysis centers being set up in collaboration with the Hans Foundation Charitable Trust in the state, patients suffering from kidney disease have got free facilities, while mobile medical vehicles go from village to village and provide free health check-ups to the people. Teams providing health services including doctors have been deployed in these vehicles. In which a doctor, a technician, a pharmacist and a social security officer have been deployed, he further stated.