In response to the Prime Minister’s call to doctors to serve poor pregnant women for free on the ninth day of every month, Apollo Hospitals has decided to pledge its support by not just devoting one day a month for their care, but also by conducting camps for the screening and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
“We have expressed our willingness to the State governments where we are present and will ask them to tell us where we can go for these camps,” said Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals.
Dr. Reddy said “non-communicable diseases are like a tsunami hitting us”. To tackle diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases, camps will be held for two to three days, where patients will be diagnosed. These will be held in urban poor and rural areas, with guidance from the State governments, he said. The group has a presence in 17 States.
“We are very short of doctors. We have one doctor for every 1,600 persons, while the World Health Organisation recommendation is one for every 1,000 persons. India is also tremendously short of specialists,” he said.
Executive vice-chairperson Preetha Reddy said that 9,000 doctors of Apollo Hospitals committing one day of the month to service would translate into one million man hours of clinical expertise. “We thank our clinicians for signing off on this. It will definitely make a huge difference in people’s lives,” she said, adding that it was possible that others too would take up this initiative.
Staff will also devote one day every month to care for poor pregnant women, in response to PM’s call
