Mumbai
MUMBAI – October 25, 2013 – For two years, Ramlal, a 49-year-old security guard with hypertension, has been receiving medical care from the AmeriCares India Mobile Medical Clinic that frequents his neighborhood. But this week he was greeted with fanfare and a bouquet of flowers as his exam marked the program’s 100,000th patient consultation.
Working long duty hours leaves no time for Ramlal to visit his local clinic or government health facility. He receives all of his medical care from the AmeriCares India van that stops in Sahar Village, near the Mumbai Domestic Airport, every 15 days. The physicians on the medical unit first diagnosed him in 2011 and have been overseeing his care ever since. Today, Ramlal doesn’t miss his daily morning walk or medication, following the advice of the clinic staff. He is working on improving his diet and reducing his tobacco consumption.
“AmeriCares India is doing a great service to the community here,” says Ramlal as he expressed his gratitude to the staff. “If not for them, I would have lived with undiagnosed hypertension all my life.”
AmeriCares India launched its first Mobile Medical Clinic in January 2011 with a vision to deliver quality primary care to residents of urban slums. Today, with four vans on the road, the program is poised to be a catalyzing change agent in the field of social health care in India. We aim to establish the Mobile Medical Clinic program as a best practice model for delivering quality primary care for the urban poor that is scalable and replicable with the support of local governments and public-private partnerships.
In addition to providing primary care to Mumbai’s poor, AmeriCares India provides emergency medical aid in response to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other disasters across the country. In North India, medical teams are currently assisting survivors of the Himalayan Tsunami, and in the East, AmeriCares India relief workers are delivering medical aid and relief supplies to families in Odisha displaced by Cyclone Phailin – the strongest storm to hit India since 1999.