BENGALURU: Karnataka’s new initiative of introducing Namma Clinics to strengthen the secondary healthcare system in Karnataka has been applauded. However, services of Mobile Medical Units (MMUs), launched under the National Health Mission (NHM) in 2017 with a similar aim, took the backseat since the initial months of 2022. MMU services have been stopped in Karnataka because of budget constraints.
Seventy MMUs were launched to provide services under 12 different areas, like maternal health, reproductive health, geriatric care, dental and eye care, and even emergency medicine in the remote areas of Karnataka. However, zero mobile units are running in the state.
The quarterly NHM report dated June 30, 2022, stated that no MMUs were functional under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), and three MMUs were operating under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).
However, D Randeep, Commissioner, health and family welfare department, told TNIE that all the MMUs were stopped in April 2022 itself, due to budget constraints. The state did not have enough funds to run them efficiently, he added.
He said the mandate provided by NHM was Rs 1.55 lakh per MMU unit. However, the amount was not enough to set up the unit, so they have proposed setting up 34 MMUs with a unit cost of Rs 3.34 lakh in the upcoming year. Besides Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Goa too have zero MMUs running under NRHM, the NHM quarterly report stated.
Kripa Bhat, coordinator, Concerned for Working Children (CWC), an NGO, explained that the government comes up with several similar schemes but many of them lack implementation. The quality of services available at Public Health Centres (PHCs) in several panchayat and taluk levels are not up to the mark, and citizens have to travel long distances to avail of basic services. She said MMUs are a good concept, as quality services are provided on wheels in remote areas. On the newly launched Namma Clinics, she said they will play a role only if they are implemented well.