Boat Clinics Are Taking Healthcare To The Remote And Inaccessible Islands Of Sundarbans

Excerpt from swachhindia.ndtv.com

It’s 10 in the morning, a diesel-operated boat, painted in white and green colour, parks itself on the banks of the Datta river near Lahiripur village located in Gosaba in Canning sub-division of South 24 Parganas district. A rider comes out to the front and uses a narrow wooden plank to create a makeshift bridge between the boat and the stairs leading up to the village. As the boat prepares itself for its daily operations, a bunch of people, from children to elderlies, walk to the boat which actually serves as a clinic, crossing over the wooden plank. Clad in a brown coloured saree, 18-year-old Kakoli Gaye, a four-month pregnant woman has come along with her husband to get a couple of blood tests done. She says,

“The doctor asked me to undergo a few blood tests and an ultrasound. Looking at my condition, some people suggested that I should get the blood tests done from a nearby clinic, as they provide good facilities to the patients and it is trustworthy.”

When Sarita Gyne developed skin disease resulting in inflammation of arms and legs, she came to the same boat clinic for medical advice. She has been coming here for quite some time for her treatment. She says,

“Even a mosquito bite leads to spots all over my body. I don’t have anyone in the family to take me to the government or private clinics in the city which is why I come to this boat to seek treatment. The doctors here are good.”

For people like Kakoli and Sarita the boat provides free mobile health care in the remote and inaccessible islands of Sundarbans in West Bengal. The boat has been serving as Mobile Boat Dispensary Service since 1997 under the aegis of SHIS (Southern Health Improvement Samity) Foundation.