MUMBAI: After successfully covering several districts of Uttar Pradesh, Swastha Ghar Tak, a healthcare initiative that provides free door-to-door screening, testing and treatment to people in rural areas, will reach Maharashtra soon.
An initiative of DoctCo, a last-mile healthcare accessibility tech start-up, Swstha Ghar Tak is currently operating through 11 buses equipped with machines and paramedic staff, a doctor and teleconsultation facilities with senior doctors stationed in Delhi.
“We started with just one bus and now have 11 buses but soon we aim to have a fleet of 100 buses which will travel through small towns and villages. We will also give free medicines to the people we screen,” said DoctCo’s founder Nimith Agarwal.
He added that many patients’ condition worsens because of lack of timely screening and diagnosis and due to delayed treatment.
Though the initiative started in June this year when the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was at its peak, the door-to-door healthcare initiative is not confined to Covid-19 tests alone.
“Now the number of Covid cases have reduced substantially but there are people who suffer from diseases like diabetes, hypertension, blood pressure and cardiovascular disease but are reluctant to go for tests because they either can’t afford them or lack awareness. We bring screening facilities to such people’s doors,” said Agarwal.
Agarwal added that Swastha Ghar Tak aims to deliver quality and trustworthy medical treatment in villages, tier-2 and tier-3 towns and cities.
After Uttar Pradesh, the initiative is being extended to other states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
At present, its fleet is equipped to conduct over 231,000 screenings and tests and to treat more than 50,000 people.
“This will help a lot since most people from tier-2 and tier-3 towns and cities lack access to quality medical treatment,” Agarwal added.
