A second medical clinic in the slums!

On the first day of the Diwali festival called Dhanteras, dedicated to prosperity and wealth, Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM) and Doctors for You (DFY) launched a satellite branch of Shravan Health Centre in Paunpada slums in Kalwa east, Thane. The festive inauguration incorporated a free health camp for 50 people from the locality. The centre will continue with General Out Patient Department and specialist OPD for Skin and Diabetes.

“The idea is to make medicines accessible for everyone,” said Dr Amit Kumar Nohwar, cofounder of the DFY Mumbai Project.

The new medical facility is a branch of the Shravan Health Centre launched by GPM and DFY in 2015 in the Bhaskar Nagar neighborhood about five kilometers from its new satellite branch.

“In a neighborhood of 200,000 people, there should be dozens of clinics providing accessible quality health care to its vulnerable communities,” explains Jacob Sztokman of GPM. “Unfortunately, this is not the case. The doctors at the Shravan Health Center recognized the need for an additional site providing health services and we with our partners Doctors For You took up the challenge “Accessible health care is a human rights and development issue. It’s also an economic and social issue. When children have access to basic medication and immunizations they are able to thrive, when their parents can receive quality treatment they are able to provide for their families.”

'Slum dwellers' often do not get quality access to healthcare and medicines likewise. That is why, such projects gain importance. “The reason we started with the project is to help the women and children in need, in particular. Now, they can access healthcare as well as quality healthcare at their doorstep. Anything that helps people would be a healthy initiative,” said Kenneth Dsouza, Managing Director of GPM.

Dr Nowhar adds, “Dhanteras is mainly for praying for good health. Hence, we launched the medical centre on this special day.”

The new medical clinic will provide hundreds of families with accessible quality and affordable (often free) health care. The expansion of services is due in part to the generous support of JDC Board Director Larry Field and Family of Chicago with the focus of providing a medical outreach service to the most vulnerable in the community. GPM and DFY are also looking forward to extend the treatment of infant malnutrition at the new clinic based on the success of the Dr. Gerald J. Friedman Infant Malnutrition Intervention Program at Shravan Health Center.

For more information and to donate for equipment, medicines and vaccinations, click here: https://rootfunding.com/campaigns/medical-clinic-india