Take care: Free medical camps for mothers, children reach 37 high-risk areas

City administration arranges check-ups by gynaecologists, basic vaccinations for children

KARACHI: The city administration  has set up nearly 37 camps across nine union councils (UC) so the residents can get free medical check-ups since Saturday.

The camps, established by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's (KMC) health department, are set up in high-risk areas and will be running till January 13 (today).

The residents were informed beforehand about the free medical camp and they were on board with the idea, said a medical officer at the SITE camp. "We are having a low turnout," he admitted.



"We hope these camps will be a success," said another medical officer who was maintaining a list of medicines at the camp. He explained that most people do not appreciate medical teams coming at their doors, which is why they decided to set up camps in several neighbourhoods. "It is also not possible to visit each and every house," he added.

Several parts of Karachi are risky for medical teams, he said. "People should take advantage of these facilities." The medical teams and the doctors are divided into groups. "There are specialists as well," added Dr Iqbal Bangash, an eye specialist.

"The main objective is to make sure the children in these neighbourhoods are given basic immunisation injections for diseases, such as polio," said Dr Mujtaba Ali, a general physician who has been serving at the camp since its first day.

Apart from polio drops, the camps also have the inactivated polio vaccines. "These injections are more powerful than the oral polio vaccine," claimed the doctor.



"Although such measures have been taken by provincial government to attract people, these camps failed to attract a large number of people,'' said Abdul Khalid, a resident of SITE town. He revealed that only a few people have visited the camp since Saturday.

Dr Mujtaba admitted they were expecting more people as the facilities are free of charge. "I personally feel that people are in a state of fear which is why they are not coming to the camps."

Abdul Ghafoor, who had brought his daughter to the camp, also felt that people are afraid to visit due to previous attacks on polio teams.

If you are living in UCs No. 4, 5 and 8 of Gadap Town, UC No. 2 of Baldia Town, UC No. 9 of Site Town, UCs No. 7 and 13 of Orangi Town, and UCs No. 1 and 2 of Landhi Town, then you can access these free medical camps until today (Tuesday).

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2015.