Seventh multidisciplinary health camp at Bhilwara

Smile Foundation in association with Jain Sabha Women’s Wing organised the 7th multidisciplinary free health camp at Shahpura in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. The camp was inaugurated on September 11 and ended on September 21. The camp catered to the rural poor living in the vicinity of Shahpura and focused on health issues related to children and women.

The multi-disciplinary health camp had a make-shift 500 bed hospital, which offered varied medical service to people deprived of proper healthcare facilities.

The Mega Health Camp provides free diagnosis, medicines, food, accommodation and surgical care. More than 100 specialist doctors and paramedical staff from Surgery, Ophthalmology, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Medicine, E.N.T., Anaesthesia, Radiology, Paediatrics, and Pathology provided voluntary service.

While 4632 came for check up, more than 554 people underwent surgery of Appendix, Gallbladder, Ureteric bladder stone, Hernia, and treatment of Gynae problem. Treatment of eye disorders, allergies, arthritis, communicable diseases, ENT, oral care, kidney problem, moles, fibroid (tumours), urinary infection, thyroid and sexually transmitted diseases etc were also available free of cost. 

Smile Foundation organises the multidisciplinary health camp at Bhilwara every year and provides integrated healthcare services (preventive, curative and referral). More than 20,000 people benefit from it every year. Special arrangement is made to provide free lodging and food for both the patients as well as the visitors. The purpose is to take healthcare services to the doorsteps of the most underprivileged population living in remote rural areas who are either out of reach from healthcare facilities or too poor to afford it.

The health camp caters to the healthcare needs of about 20,000 people living in about 100 villages in the vicinity of Shahpura. The area has only 1 government dispensary and in case of critical situations, a patient is taken to Bhilwara for further treatment. Every year, thousands people visit the Health camp and about a 1,000 people avail the service of the surgical unit. The health camp is a boon for the villagers who do not have access to proper healthcare service.  “People wait throughout the year for the health camp,” says Kamla Chaudhry of Jain Sabha Women’s Wing.

The entire Jain Samaj Women’s Wing, Rajasthan in collaboration with Smile Foundation works months ahead of the programme making arrangements for the smooth execution of the camp. Besides the relentless service by the Women’s Wing, the Government of Rajasthan also lends out its mobile surgical unit for the service of the people.