Bringing the hospital to the people

Lyari Girls Café teams up with the Rangers, healthcare providers to set up free of charge medical camp, mobile units


Our Correspondent March 04, 2018
Campaign to find health workers for Bannu camp gets cold response. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: The Lyari Girls Café and Sindh Rangers collaborated to arrange a one-day free of charge medical camp in Kalri, Lyari.

Over 1,700 patients were provided consultation and medicine. Most of the visitors were women and children. A general physician, eye specialist, paediatricians and gynaecologist, along with a chest specialist participated in the event and examined the patients.

Wing Commander Colonel Muhammad Nasir and his team visited the camp and interacted with the local community. Around 50 volunteers of the Lyari Girls Café managed the day-long activity.

"Though we have tertiary care hospitals near our area but we [patients] are not attended to well there," explained Muhammad Rafiq, a visitor who accompanied his 112-year-old uncle. He said that the free of charge medical camp provided free medicine, which was one of the main attractors for residents of such areas.

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"All the patients were attended to according to their complaints," said Sabir Hussain, a volunteer at the medical camp. He said that the flow of patients at the camp was unprecedented. We were expecting not more than 300 to 500 patients, he said, adding that free of charge medical camps should be organised often so that members of the community who are afraid of going to public hospitals also have a chance to receive medical treatment.

Lyari’s Girls Café, under the umbrella of ARADO Pakistan, organised the free of charge medical camp for children, especially street and nomadic children, at the Hingora Community Hall in Lyari from morning until two in the afternoon. Later, a mobile camp moved to the Baghdadi are and then to Machhar Colony on main Mauripur Road.

The programme, titled ‘Destination Unknown’, was a collaborative effort between the Pakistan Rangers, Indus Hospital, TB Mitao campaign, Lyari General Hospital, Hingora Jamat, Edhi Foundation and Terre Des Hommes. The camp was participated in by 15 doctors and 10 paramedics. Four ambulances were used during the mobile camp.

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The Edhi Foundation is supporting the Lyari Girls Café medical camp by providing ambulances. The Indus Hospital provided a TB Mitao van, which examined patients suffering from prolonged coughs. The slogan of the campaign was ‘Do hafton ki khansi ko halka na lo, TB mitane me hamara sath do [don’t treat a two-week cough lightly, join us in eradicating TB]’.

Lyari Girls Café team members Sassui and Sehrish also created awareness amongst children about basic health and hygiene issues. The method of hand washing, skin care awareness, importance and process of boiling water were explained to the underprivileged families.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Kiran said that this is the team’s first experience with this. “We believe in empowerment of girls and think that if we believe in their skills and abilities they can change the world.”

She added that their message is to empower girls through education.

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