TURA, 16 Nov: A three day medical screening and surgery health camps organised by the Adventist Mission Hospital society that runs the sub-divisional government hospital in Jengjal has helped hundreds of patients with free medical checkups and consultations, while dozens of others have benefitted from free surgeries conducted by a team of specialised surgeons from the Christian Medical College of Vellore and Penang Adventist Hospital of Malaysia.

Vellore CMC is ranked among the best medical and research centres in the country and even South East Asia with even foreign patients coming in for treatment. Deemed at par with AIIMS, New Delhi, thousands of people from the North East opt for Vellore for medical treatment each year.

The presence of doctors from Vellore and Malaysia, a country renowned for its health care facilities, has helped a large number of patients from Garo Hills who have been thronging Jengjal hospital, 30 kms from Tura, as soon as word got out about the impending visit of the medical team.

Similar number of patients have been visiting the health mela, simultaneously put up at SMELC hall in Tura, where the Malaysian doctors and team are providing health assessment to the visiting patients by way of free blood tests, sugar, counselling and lifestyle changes.

Meghalaya Health Minister James Pangsang K Sangma, whose constituency of Dadenggre includes Jengjal, has given active support to the doctors of the Adventist Mission to help turn around health care in the region.

On Tuesday, the health minister dropped in at both venues to meet with the visiting medical teams. Hailing their contribution to medical care for people who need it the most, James Sangma expressed his profound gratitude to the doctors for coming all this way to provide free medical treatment for the people of Garo Hills.

The minister will also be handing over a letter of gratitude and acknowledgement to the visiting team of doctors.

Patients suffering from hernia, haemorrhoids, gall bladder and other diseases were operated upon by the surgeons with a post operative care inside Jengjal hospital. The number of patients who came forward seeking to go under the knife was so high that the surgeons began their operations at the break of dawn, approximately 6:30 AM, running all the way to late evening.