Medical
facilities are scarce in rural parts of India, surgical
care being even more difficult to find. Setting up health
centres in remote areas and then staffing them will take
some time.
Impact India Foundation decided to tackle the problem
rather uniquely by taking medical care to different parts
of the country utilizing the already established
infrastructure of the Indian Railways. The outcome: The
Lifeline Express, a special "medical" train that travels to
different parts of the country throughout the year. Till
date, this roving hospital has completed 83 six-week
projects, having medically served 400,000 persons in the
remote, rural interiors of India.
The entire operation is made possible by the selflessness
of 70,000 volunteers from all sections of the medical
industry. Surgeons, anesthetists, doctors and nurses
working in hospitals or private nursing homes, take days
off their regular jobs to be part of this unique project.
