~HDB Financial Services supports running of Smile on Wheels mobile healthcare unit in Tiruvallur~
23rd August 2021, Chennai: HDB Financial Services has come forward to support Smile Foundation’s Health Cannot Wait campaign to strengthen public health infrastructure and provide primary healthcare to people. HDB Financial Services is supporting the running of Smile on Wheels mobile health unit in Tiruvallur, where it will cater to people in around 12 villages.
Mr. XXX, CEO, HDB Financial Services was present at the launch and flagged off the mobile health unit.
Smile on Wheels is a national-level mobile hospital program catering to underprivileged children and women. The program takes well-equipped medical vans along with specialized doctors, nurses, medical staff, and medicines to identified villages and slums in a systematic manner.
The objective of the program is to ensure improved health services reach the doorstep of people residing in unserved or underserved areas. The Smile on Wheels program has so far provided free healthcare services to more than 1.5 million children and families.
Smile on Wheels vans cover rural or slum areas where either no government health care facilities exist or where those that exist do not provide sufficient care for the population. Each unit covers the vicinity of up to 25 kms from its center and visits 2-3 villages a day on a regular basis. In emergency cases, it functions as a referral clinic and an ambulance. The vans are stationed in an urban center, usually with a static hospital, which provisions like a referral medical center. The team also carries out awareness activities on health and hygiene to achieve health seeking behavior.
The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken India and seems to be even more devastating than the first. Fighting the new, more infectious variant of the virus, frontline health workers are working round the clock even as hospitals run out of beds and oxygen supply, and thousands succumb to preventable deaths. India has become the second-worst affected country, with more than 32 million cases, and more than 433,000 deaths.
Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder, and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation said, “As the pandemic continues, we must strengthen systems to provide relief to as many people as possible. Companies, citizens, the government, and civil society organizations must continue working in close collaboration to address the situation. We are delighted to partner HDB Financial Services, as their support will go a long way in bolstering our efforts under the Health Cannot Wait campaign.”
Talking about the partnership, XXX, CEO, HDB Financial Services said, “HDB Financial Services has always contributed as a responsible stakeholder in the development of the community and the country. Our support to Smile on Wheels will help increase access to health services for the unserved and the underserved, providing much-needed relief to the local community.”
About Smile Foundation:
Smile Foundation is an NGO in India directly benefitting over 15,00,000 children and their families every year, through more than 400 live welfare projects on education for poor children, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment, in over 2000 remote villages and slums across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families, and the community.
Media Contact:
Sreeparna Chakrabarty: [email protected]. | 9811502059
Website: http://www.smilefoundationindia.org/