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‘Bandhu Clinic’ – an initiative of the National Health Mission Ernakulam and the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) is a mobile clinic that has been in service since March 28 when the country was six days into the nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19. The clinic is a big, white bus touring the roads of Ernakulam district to reach sites or colonies where migrant labourers live. The clinic has a doctor, a nurse, a clinical assistant who doubles as a driver and a programme director. They stop at sites or camps where migrant workers work or stay, and begin screening them for any sort of medical issues. If they have symptoms associated with COVID-19 – fever, cough, throat pain or breathing trouble – the nearest Public Healthcare Centre (PHC) is immediately alerted.
In an interview with The News Minute, Benoy Peter, the executive director of CMID said, “It is an idea that was developing much before the coronavirus threat had begun. We have been interested in social work and especially in the area of migration. We started CMID as a non-profit organisation to make healthcare accessible to migrant workers. It just so happened that by the time we brought out the customised vehicle (with the help of Mangalore Refinery and Petro Chemicals) that could work as a mobile clinic, COVID-19 had spread all over the world.”
There are 35 lakh migrant workers in Kerala, 40% of whom are from Bengal, hence the name of the clinic is “Bandhu”, a Bengali word meaning “friend”. The clinic was established chiefly because labourers weren’t ready to let go of their day’s wages in order to go to a testing clinic during their work hours. Therefore, a mobile clinic was the need of the hour. They have also recruited a team that understands and speaks multiple languages so as to be able to cater to migrant labourers coming from different parts of the nation.
“The doctor in the team – Thasleema Beevi – speaks Kannada and Malayalam, the nurse – Gireesh – speaks Hindi and Bhojpuri, the clinical assistant - Binu MP – also speaks Hindi. Once we begin our regular service (post COVID-19), the clinic will run from 1.30 to 9.30 pm, and apart from examining them for various health issues, we will also provide health education. There is a doctor’s consulting room and a nurse station inside. Now, however, since we need to maintain social distancing, the inside of the bus is not used. Instead, a table is pulled out of the van and the doctor consults the people outside,” Benoy adds.
While the mobile clinic is run by CMID, the sites they stop at are hosted by the NHM.
If the labourers show any symptoms, their details and contact information are passed on to the Health Department who then follow up with them.
They have screened 2819 people so far, out of whom 68 people have been found to have fever. No COVID-19 cases have been found.
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