THIS SOUNDS really good. Would anyone know if the service is as effective
as sought to be claimed? FN
Clinic on Wheels in Goa - Revealed in Gujarat
Publish Date : 1/7/2005 8:01:00 PM Source : National News
ExpressNewsline.com
(Gujarat, Indian Science Congress, Ahmedabad, Jan 7) - Goa has been
running a unique health-on-wheels programme to provide check-ups to
factory workers on site for 19 years, officials from the state said here
Friday.
Launched in 1986 by the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers, a van that
is equipped with check-up facilities makes scheduled visits to industrial
units.
The concept of "mobile occupational health clinics" is not new in
countries like Australia and Canada, but the Goa project is perhaps the
only one of its kind in India, state officials claim.
The van was displayed at the 92nd Indian Science Congress, the focal
theme of which was "Health Technology as Fulcrum of Development".
With one doctor specialising in occupational health and seven
technicians, the van visits a factory and does check-ups for about 25
workers at a time.
The facilities in the van include X-ray camera, spirometry lung function
test, vision test, audio test, blood withdrawal and angiometry.
Some of the equipment was donated to the state by the UNDP.
"The services were offered free of charge when we started out. We later
started charging a nominal fee that can be paid by workers, their union
or the management," Lawrence Lobo, an official, told IANS.
He said in 90 percent of cases, the management paid the charges. "It
makes sense for them to see if their workers are physically fit. The
vision test, for example, is necessary for workers doing certain
processes in the pharmaceutical industry," he said.
The audio test is also necessary for workers operating high-noise
machines.
The van was a centre of attraction at the "Hall of Pride" expo, organised
as part of the science congress.
The five-day long science congress, inaugurated by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, came to an end Friday.(IANS) - Express Newsline
