ITANAGAR, Feb 12: The state is set to witness and be part of the Impact India Foundation’s Lifeline Express, the world’s first hospital train, on 17 February at the Naharlagun Railway Station.
The project was given the nod after representatives from Impact India Foundation’s Lifeline Express met
with Deputy Commissioner Komkar Dulom on Wednesday at his office to discuss on conducting the lifeline express project at Itanagar, which would be first of its kind in the entire state.
The train hospital will offer free-of-cost quality services, including OPDs, state-of-the-art sterilized operating theatres, cancer surgeries and preventive health services and restorative surgeries for vision, hearing, cleft, orthopaedic, neurological, dental and gynaecological problems.
The DC, while lauding the initiative, said that the district administration is ready to extend all kind of support and directed DMO Dr Mandip Perme to work out modalities for the successful conduct of the project, scheduled to begin from 17 February at the railway station.
The DC further said that the project would be immensely beneficial for the citizens, especially those who cannot afford to pay for such expenses. He said that the availability of facilities like Memography will again be extremely helpful for people who cannot afford to go out of state as such facilities are not available here.
IIF Senior Operating Officer Chandrakant Deshpande informed that the train hospital was first launched on 16 July, 1991 in partnership with the Indian Railways and since then has conducted 204 projects, performing more than 1,46,046 surgeries and benefited more than one million people who have been treated totally free-of-cost restoring sight to the blind, mobility to polio stricken, hearing to the deaf and smile to those affected with cleft lip, besides epilepsy, dental treatment and cancer services.
The hospital train aims to reach out to those who cannot reach a hospital bringing modern medical care to underserved rural and tribal areas.
In Arunachal, the project would be first of its kind having a hospital on wheels.
Impact India Foundation is an international initiative against avoidable disablement, established through a United Nations General Assembly Resolution, launched by the Government of India on October 2nd 1983, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. (DIPRO)
