A key goal of service delivery is to provide equitable access to and coverage of health care, but this goal cannot be fully realised without a plan in place to reach the communities that are most underserved and reside in remote locations. Reaching last mile populations is still a problem despite the remarkable coverage advances. The absence of services through established service delivery infrastructure is a problem that needs to be addressed right now. A crucial service technique to reach such vulnerable people is the use of mobile medical units (MMUs).
One of India’s leading emergency medical service providers, Ziqitza Healthcare ltd, explains that mobile health services are a response to reaching populations living in distant, challenging places and those communities cut-off from mainstream services due to geography and climatic conditions. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has made a large investment in mobile medical units (MMUs) in order to reach these neglected communities.
The National Health Mission (which includes the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as its two Sub-Missions) goal is to ensure that everyone has access to fair, decent, and affordable health care. Ziqitza Healthcare elaborates that the operationalization of Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) to deliver a variety of health care services for populations living in remote, inaccessible, un-served, and underserved areas was one major initiative under the NRHM, with the main goal being to bring healthcare service delivery to these populations’ doorsteps. The MMUs services are also meant to give fixed services in places where there is no infrastructure and serve the urban poor and vulnerable people with the advent of NUHM.
MMU services are intended to meet the technical and service quality standards for a Primary Health Centre by offering a suggested package of services in 12 thematic areas: Maternal Health, Neonatal and Infant Health, Child and Adolescent Health, Reproductive Health and Contraceptive Services, Management of Chronic Communicable Diseases, Management of Common Communicable Diseases & basic OPD care (acute simple illnesses), Management of Common Non-Communicable Diseases MMUs provide these services for free, in addition to facilitating referrals.
Ziqitza Rajasthan states that in comparison to more conventional healthcare delivery methods, mobile health clinics offer high-quality service at a lesser cost. Mobile health clinics assist patients in avoiding expensive ER visits during crises, saving them money. According to estimates, each mobile clinic saves 600 emergency room visits annually. A typical savings of one-fifth of the cost of care results from this. Additionally, mobile clinics offer affordable preventive treatment that lowers the lifetime cost of care for a patient. Each mobile health clinic saves, on average, 65 quality-adjusted life years annually (a standard metric used by healthcare experts).
Mobile health clinics provide vulnerable populations with healthcare access at a fraction of the expense of operating a conventional hospital or care facility.
ZHL Rajasthan further elaborates that healthcare professionals can customise their services to particular populations because of the nature of mobile health clinics. Mobile health clinics provide adaptable, responsive care to populations that have just been displaced as well as remote and vulnerable groups. Mobile clinics’ flexibility enables doctors to adapt their care to the changing needs of a population’s health.
The first line of defence against sickness for underprivileged groups can be provided through mobile health clinics. Ziqitza Limited Rajasthan cites a long-term study of mobile clinics, which was published in the International Journal for Equity in Health, it was discovered in the study that 45 percent of them provide preventative screenings, 42 percent provide basic care, and 30 percent provide dental treatments. These vital services can fill the gap between the needs of the community’s health and the mechanisms of traditional healthcare delivery.
Mobile Medical Units (MMU) are able to easily and affordably deliver preventative and curative healthcare in remote and inhospitable areas, including the nearby rural areas where there are no healthcare facilities. Ziqitza Health care limited has expertise managing more than 150 MMUs in Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh, three states with extremely diverse populations. Our MMUs are staffed with medical professionals who are equipped to offer free medical examinations and trained to identify the signs of common illnesses, perform a basic diagnosis, prescribe medication, and send patients to specialised clinics in the event of subsequent medical issues. Raising awareness, ensuring preventive immunisation, and encouraging regular medical check-ups among the rural population became possible with the availability of these vans.