DIBRUGARH, Feb 29: Union Minister of State of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli on Wednesday flagged off seven Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) in Dibrugarh district.

The MMUs will operate under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project of Public Sector Undertaking GAIL (India) Limited.

The flagging off ceremony was graced by Dibrugarh MLA Prasanta Phukan, Moran MLA Chakradhar Gogoi, Dibrugarh DC Bikram Kairi, Anoop Gupta, ED (CSR) GAIL, Pranjal Changmai, MD BCPL, other esteemed dignitaries along with other senior officials of GAIL.

In line with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister of health and wellness for everyone; which includes physical, mental and social well-being, these MMUs have been flagged off as a part of Project Arogya, a flagship CSR Project of GAIL, a PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

Under this project, free primary healthcare services are provided at the door-step of the rural underprivileged communities in the district. Through the qualified medical team in the MMU, free medical services and medicines are provided to these communities who other-wise have limited access to the established Public Health Care system.

The GPS tracked MMUs shall cover about 60 kms every day and provide medical services to around 80 patients daily.

In addition to these, low-cost sanitary napkins are also distributed to adolescent girls and women as well as basic diagnostic tests are also undertaken through these MMUs.

These MMUs follow an ADCR Formula of Awareness, Diagnosis, Cure and Referral. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) activities are also undertaken by the team to generate awareness on health and hygiene related topics.

Services of the MMUs support the elderly and the physically challenged who are often unable to avail medical services available at a distance from their village and have considerably brought down the average medical expenses of these families.

In addition to the newly flagged off MMUs, 37 more MMUs are currently operational across 20 districts in 11 states under Project Arogya of GAIL CSR. Each MMU is expected to cater to about 25,000 beneficiaries annually.