Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital is a novel outreach programme that was started in April 2006. The hospital has the noble mission of taking healthcare to the rural doorstep. Every month, for twelve days, the mobile clinic with its team of doctors visits a village every day, offering diagnostic services and even performing minor surgeries and dental procedures. Where, urgent medical attention is necessary, the patients are referred to local Sri Sathya Sai hospitals for further treatment.
In many parts of rural India, healthcare is still woefully inadequate as is awareness of the basic principles of health and hygiene. Village folk fall prey to many diseases as a result. Many neglect their health problems since they subsist on daily wages and a day’s earnings would have to be foregone in trekking to and from a far off hospital. Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital is thus a blessing on wheels for those in the villages around Prasanthi Nilayam.
The hospital, a Siemens Sanjeevani, is equipped with diagnostic services including, X-ray, ECG, 2-D Echo, Ultrasound and Pathology. Offering their services free and in a humanitarian spirit each month is a team of 30 doctors, taken from a panel of 600 doctors ranging from professors to junior physicians and including private practitioners. The emphasis is on holistic healing over and above therapeutics.
The hospital offers medical services in the following departments:
General Medicine
ENT
Ophthalmology
Dental medicine
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Orthopaedics
Paediatrics
Geriatrics
Dermatology
In addition to the general medical camps students of local village schools are given a complete medical examination.
The Mobile Hospital camps have two other aspects that embody Bhagawan’s philosophy of healthcare:
Creating basic awareness on Preventive medicine
Villagers recieve talks, demonstrations and video shows on basic health and hygiene covering food habits, personal hygiene and cleanliness of surroundings. They are also educated on the ill effects of vices such as drinking, smoking and chewing tobacco .
Water in rural Andhra Pradesh is very high in fluorides (2 to 4 ppm against the permissible level of 1.5 ppm) which causes Fluorosis, a crippling and painful disease affecting teeth and bones. Villagers are taught a simple method of reducing fluoride content using Alum to make their drinking water safe.
Emphasizing the importance of Spirituality in holistic health
The medical community is increasingly becoming aware of the link between spirituality and healing. Villagers are taught to spiritualize their lives since this will not only keep them away from vices but will also bring harmony to their homes and community.
Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital Wins CNBC-TV 18 Healthcare Award
Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital won recognition for the stupendous work it has been doing for the rural poor in the form of an award at the very prestigious CNBC TV18's India Healthcare Awards -2013.” The Commendation for Innovation in Transforming Lives was presented to Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital by Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, I.A.S. (Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India) at a ceremony held at the Taj Palace, New Delhi on 23rd December 2013. What was remarkable was that the awardee in this category was chosen after independent research by the organizers with no representation from any Trust personnel in this regard.
