Hyderabad: A mosque in the old city of Hyderabad offers free health care facilities to the poor, thanks to the initiative taken by an NGO.
Masjid Omer Al shifa, in the Saif colony in Shaheenagar, provides basic health services to nearly 300 people daily.
The mosque was in the news last year after it opened its doors to the people affected by flooding in several slums in Osmannagar.
People made homeless by one of the worst floods in the city’s history have found refuge in the mosque. As the victims of the floods faced health issues, the Helping Hand Foundation stepped forward to set up health center.
Since then, the center has treated more than 30,000 people. The NGO has identified the area to provide its services as it has no primary health center. There are also no Basti Dawakhanas, the community health centers run by the Telangana government in parts of the city.
Due to the increasing number of people seeking health services, the NGO has also opened a night clinic that is open until 21:00. Residents, most of whom are daily wage workers, feel that the facility greatly benefits them.
The center not only provides primary health services, but also provides ancillary services such as prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), dental health, Hijama (cup therapy), health and nutrition services for children and women.
A team of doctors, nurses and counselors provide services in the center, which is also equipped with an ambulance facility. Helping Hand spends Rs 4 lakh per month to run the center.
This is the third mosque in the city where the NGO manages the health care facility.
Similar centers are also operated at Masjid-e-Ishaq in Nawab sahab Kunta and at Masjid Mohammed-e-Mustafa, in Wadi-e-Mahmood, a slum, in collaboration with the American Support for Education and Economic Development (SEED)) .
The NGO started the initiative and realized that it was necessary to focus on the health care needs of women and children, especially during the current period. Covid-19 pandemic, which has made the health of women and children worse.
According to Helping Hand, the Covid closure caused unemployment, loss of income, coupled with the closure of schools serving lunch, and anganwadis, which provides supplementary nutrition, only contributed to the lack of adequate nutrition in children and women, and even more, pregnant women.
The women’s and children’s center at the mosque in Wadi-e-Mahmood has a women’s team consisting of a senior general practitioner, a pediatrician, obstetrician and gynecologist, a dental surgeon, dietitian, nurses, counselors and support staff at the reception desk.
Source: The Siasat Daily