Uttarakhand's Tehri district doctors now one call away
UTTARAKHAND: For thousands of women and children in remote villages of Tehri district, medical help is now just a phone call away. Thanks to ‘Hello Doctor-555’, a helpline launched by the district administration in 2017, help can be reached to pregnant mothers, malnourished children and people suffering from various ailments. The service, which has helped save countless lives since its inception, was launched by IAS officer Sonika when she was the district magistrate.
Under the service, over 20 health schemes being run by the Centre and the Uttarakhand government are available at the doorstep of the people. “The aim was to provide medical care to the people and help them as much as we can. A number of schemes are being run by the central and the state governments for the benefit of the people. This service connects people directly to more than 20 schemes,” said the IAS officer, who is currently posted as additional chief executive officer in the state tourism board.
The service even won a national e-governance award for the year 2018-19 by the Government of India. Sonika, a 2010 batch IAS officer, found out the difficulties faced by the people of Tehri district when she was posted as the DM. An officer known for her empathetic behaviour and never-say-die approach, she used to walk miles to reach the remote villages to witness issues related to connectivity, lack of facilities and other problems. The lack of access to medical facilities in the villages particularly worried her as the remote areas and hilly terrain often made it difficult for patients to be taken to health centres, especially in times of emergency. That’s when she decided to launch the Hello Doctor service.
The district administration established 75 sub-centers which were equipped with audio-visual calling facility, with a pharmacist stationed there. The centres had a kit which has essential equipment such as a tablet, an internet dongle, software for video call, an ECG machine, foetal heart rate monitor, glucometer and pulse oximeter, among others, to help diagnose the patient. The patient, upon calling the toll free number 555 or 18001804112, is instructed to visit the nearest sub-center where the pharmacist conducts necessary tests and then connects with the district hospital with results.
The specialists in the district hospital examine the patient. The toll-free number also helps setting up an appointment with specialists in case the patient needs to travel to a higher centre for the treatment. Ambulance is also provided to the patient, which saves time, money and other resources of the people living in remote areas of the hilly district. Close to 90,000 patients had been benefitted from the scheme till December 2019. One of them was the pregnant wife of Surendra Singh Dhanai, whose life was saved due to the prompt response. “The life of my wife and newborn child was saved, thanks to timely intervention as the officials sent an ambulance,” said a thankful Dhanai.