CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation and the Directorate of Public Health Department along with various government medical colleges are conducting hundreds of special monsoon medical camps in flood-affected areas in the city.
From Sunday, the Public Health Department will run 200 more special medical camps through the Government Stanley Medical College, Madras Medical College, Kilpauk Medical and New Medical College in Omandurar Estate.
Already, 216 camps are functional in Chennai, jointly run by the Directorate of Public Health and Chennai Corporation. Besides, 92 mobile medical teams are functioning in the city. These teams will screen people in the relief camps as a precautionary measures to check the possibility of spreading of communicable diseases. Doctors will also provide anti-biotic pills as and when required. Other than this, 40 mobile medical teams have been formed by the Madras Medical College (MMC) for screening of people in some of the worst affected areas like Velacherry, Madipakkam, Pallikaranai, Adambakkam, Shollinganallur, Chromepet and Pallavaram. Each team will cover at lease five surrounding areas and will have one senior doctor, one junior doctor and staff nurses of MMC, said the dean, Dr R Vimala.
Besides medical screening, doctors will also provide relief materials to the inmates in relief camps as food, shelter and water are priority items.
“We have so far distributed nearly 2,500 food packets along with blankets and milk packets for people in relief camps in the last four days,” said Prethivi Raj, a final year MBBS student of MMC, talking about efforts taken by medical students. “Apart from students contributing money, many cooked food and distributed them to various relief camps in the city,” he said.