MUMBAI: Tuberculosis day is observed globally each year to raise awareness among the public about the disease and ways to eradicate the same. On this occasion, Wockhardt Foundation, a not-for-profit organization known for its committed service to the poor, weak, and needy, through its Mobile1000 programme, reached out to 7500 rural people across 1400 villages in different parts of India.
79 Mobile1000 vans visited these villages on a single day and conducted these camps to spread awareness and educate the rural masses on the symptoms, diagnosis, cure and prevention of tuberculosis. Easy to read material on the subject, developed and printed in regional languages, was also given to the villagers. The whole purpose of the camp was to reassure people that TB is curable if detected early.
Dr. Huz (Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala,) Trustee and CEO, Wockhardt Foundation said, “TB is a silent epidemic. It can be treated and cured with timely and accurate diagnosis. Unfortunately, rural masses do not have access to such information. Through this camp, we have made an effort to reach out to the underprivileged and create awareness on this issue.”
According to WHO Global tuberculosis report 2015, TB is a leading cause of death with 1.5 million deaths in 2014 which is more than death caused due to HIV.
Launched in 2007, Wockhardt Foundation’s ISO 9001:2008 approved Mobile 1000 programme has been successfully administering high quality, free, primary healthcare services to growing number of rural areas across India.
The Mobile 1000 health van equipped with a GPS tracking system and consisting of 1 doctor, 1 pharmacist and 1 driver travels across villages conducting free OPD/health screening for rural people and providing free basic health services.
They work towards creating awareness in rural areas on sanitation, hygiene, mother and child healthcare, safe drinking water, immunization, anemia, de-worming, vector-borne diseases, HIV, snake-bites, diabetes and tuberculosis.
This is followed up with diagnosis and treatment. Specific cases requiring specialty care are referred to specialists.
Wockhardt Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization engaged in social service and human welfare activities. Its 9 programmes have made perceptible change in its areas of operations to the lives of the underprivileged.
Mobile 1000, its flagship programme, aims at operating 1000 Mobile Health Vans in rural India and administering free primary healthcare to 25 million Indians every year. As of date, there are 77 Mobile 1000 Vans operating in 18 states and doing yeoman service to rural India.
Its other programmes like Little Hearts, Pronto Toilet, Pronto Bio-Toilet, E-Learning, Khel Khel Mein, Wockhardt Skills Development Institute, SHUDHU water purification tablets and Adarsh Gram Yojana have made significant impact and it continues to expand its social coverage in areas where the need is the most.
Says it’s Trustee & CEO, Dr. HUZ (Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala) -“Wockhardt Foundation operates its social programmes based on the 3 B’s – Big, Best and Bold. The Big ensures scale, the Best ensures quality and the Bold ensures need.”
Wockhardt Foundation is governed by a simple philosophy -“where every smile counts”.
