Modelled on the lines of Mohalla Clinics in New Delhi to target smaller populations

By M.T. Yogesh Kumar

Mysore/Mysuru: In a novel initiative to enhance the accessibility to healthcare among the urban poor, the State Government is working towards establishing ‘Namma Clinics’ to cover a population of 15,000 to 20,000, specifically targeted to areas having a large number of economically vulnerable sections of society.

Six such Namma Clinics have been sanctioned for Mysuru and across the State, over 438 such clinics will offer medical care facilities. Each Namma Clinic will be staffed with one medical officer, one staff nurse, one lower division clerk and one Group D staff.

Patients can get free consultations, free medicines and free lab tests at each Namma Clinic and a total of 14 lab tests will be made available. In case the patient needs further treatments at secondary and tertiary care facilities, they will also be provided free referral. Facilities for tele-consultations with specialists will also be created to expedite the diagnosis and treatment.

According to Mysuru District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. K.H. Prasad, the major benefit of Namma Clinics is that it will make primary healthcare accessible and affordable to urban poor. “The Government is targeting a population of 15,000 to 30,000 in a particular geographical area. Areas above 50,000 people already have Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and the Namma Clinics will further target smaller populations,”  he said.

Namma Clinics will also help to screen diseases, especially non-communicable and lifestyle diseases at an early stage thereby making treatment much quicker and mitigating life-threatening complications that occur at advanced stages of the diseases.

In Mysuru, the Namma Clinics will be established at K.R. Nagar, H.D. Kote and T. Narasipur in the rural belt. “In the urban set up, the areas not covered by the existing Urban PHCs will be brought under the ambit of Namma Clinics. While one Namma Clinic will come up at Hootagalli, the second one will be at Srirampura Second Stage covering Devayyanahundi and Lingambudhipalya. The third such facility will be established at Bharathnagar-Hanchya border,” the DHO revealed.

The programme has been focused to address the healthcare needs of the urban poor, especially people falling below the poverty line and people living in huts and slums. In addition to providing healthcare, the Namma Clinics will focus on creating awareness about Government healthcare schemes.

The Namma Clinics are being established in Government buildings and rented buildings which have an area of 1,000-1,200 sq.ft. “We have already identified the buildings from where the Namma Clinics will function from Mysuru and the staff and equipment will be provided by the State Government. Each Namma Clinic will come under the jurisdiction of the DHO. We are aiming to start all the clinics  from November first week,”  Dr. Prasad added.

According to him, the clinics will also create awareness about Yoga, Pranayama, Dhyana and food habits. Apparently the Namma Clinics are being established taking a cue from Delhi Government’s Mohalla Clinic.