Mobile healthcare units for non-COVID patients in Odisha's Ganjam district

Berhampur: With several hospitals turning away non-COVID patients, amid the surge in coronavirus cases, the administration in Odisha's Ganjam district has launched mobile health units to provide them basic medical services at their doorsteps.

The initiative -- Hospital on Wheels -- will be of help to those in need of immediate treatment, especially in the rural parts of Ganjam, among the worst-affected districts in the state, a senior official said.

Five mobile health units, each consisting of at least one doctor, a pharmacist and other health care workers, will provide medical aid to those suffering from ailments other than COVID-19, District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said.

"If any patient exhibits symptoms of COVID-19, doctors will advise him or her to undergo swab tests. The patient will be shifted to a Covid Care Centre or a hospital if he or she tests positive for the disease," the collector said.

Two mobile units will cover the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area, and the rest will cater to patients in three subdivisions -- Berhampur, Bhanjanagar and Chhatrapur, Kulange said.

"The doctors will attend to patients suffering from diseases other than COVID-19, much like what is being done at the clinics of Urban Primary Health Centres in the BeMC area," he explained.

Lauding the initiative, health activist Suresh Chandra Sahu said many ailing residents in the remote areas, who do not have access to medical facilities amid the pandemic- induced restrictions, will benefit from the move.

"While residents of the BeMC area can visit a nearby clinic for treatment, those living in the rural parts do not enjoy any such facility. The mobile units will be able to bridge the gap to an extent," he said.

(PTI)