Health
Umeed’s umbrella campaign, “Health at the Doorstep”, includes a team of doctors and nurses who reach out to the poor with free consultations, medicines, palliative care and referrals to primary and secondary healthcare services. Each of these camps is held in a cluster of 20 villages, treating approximately 1,000 patients. A total of 70,127 patients were checked in the months of April, May and June. While 33,628 people were treated in Sangrur, 36,499 villagers were checked for various ailments in Dhuri.On an average, 23,375 patients were treated every month.
The programme has served 4.8 million people from over 500 villages and slums in Dhuri and Sangrur since 1997. Of them, up to 75% are repeat patients.
The NGO also organises specialised camps that focus on heart diseases, pre- and post-natal care, ophthalmology, endocrinology, pediatrics and HIV/AIDS awareness among others. Twelve free heart check-up camps have been held since 2001. Over 7,200 patients have been treated and given free medicines.
Umeed has also created awareness about HIV/AIDS among two high-risk communities - truckers’ and migrant labour community in Sangrur. The programme has covered 10,000 truckers and 5,000 migrant labourers.