On 3rd December 2017, a one-day free health camp was organized at Kasturba Hospital for Indigent people or people belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL). The camp held as per the directives given by the State Charity Commission.
With an aim to make healthcare accessible to all, a free-health screening was organized in the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospital. The objective of this drive was to educate the underprivileged about the health benefits and schemes available for them.
Doctors from different specialties like Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Radiotherapy, Radiology, ENT, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Skin, Dental etc provided free health checkup to 165 people belonging to the lowest income slab. Free medicines were also given.
The department of community medicine actively participated in the promotion of the health camp. 5000 pamphlets were distributed amongst people on street and nearby villages. Patients with their orange ration card or BPL certificate or annual income certificate adhered to avail the facility.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr BS Garg, Secretary, Kasturba Health Society said, “With activities like these we aim to bring down the gap and provide an equal opportunity for the poor to take the services from our hospital. People who may hesitate to come to us, would become more open to approach us for medical services under Indigent Patient scheme.”