Medical camps

For a village family, a trip to the city for treatment means lost wages, fares and fees it cannot afford. So the Foundation takes the doctor to the village. Medical camps began in 2011 in Nawabganj block of Bareilly, where Gramya already worked, and have treated more than 78,000 people, each with 5 to 15 days of free medicines.

How it began

The first camps were held in December 2011 by doctors of the Ayurvedic Medical College, Bareilly, at Richhola Tarachand. In May and June 2012 a gynaecologist and a paediatrician held camps at Sithra, and that June the Foundation ran its first six-day primary health care workshop for village youth.

Regular camps

A doctor travels with medicines and staff to fixed village centres on fixed days. Volunteers register patients, the doctor examines them, and the Foundation provides the medicines; serious cases are referred to hospitals in Bareilly, where doctors associated with the Foundation help. By 2018 the camps covered 8 to 12 villages a day, usually repeating weekly in each village, and treated about 1,000 patients a month.

Specialist camps

Paediatricians, gynaecologists, surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, ENT and eye specialists from Bareilly's hospitals volunteer at specialist camps in the villages, as do doctors from the Ayurvedic Medical College, Bareilly. Camps have been held at Sithra, Richhola Tarachand, Kashi Dharmpur, Matkula, Navadiya and Navadiya Bamanpuri, among others.

The medical van

On 18 March 2018 the Foundation's own medical van was inaugurated, so that the doctor, medicines and equipment could reach more distant villages. Between January and May 2018 alone, 13 camps at Navadiya, Matkula, Aaspur and Richhola Tarachand saw about 980 patients.

Health education

Alongside treatment, the Foundation has run six-day primary health care workshops for more than 50 young men and women from the villages, so that every village has someone who can handle first aid.