CM flags off 81 ‘Arogya Sethu’ mobile health units

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday flagged off 81 ‘Arogya Sethu’ Mobile Health Units (MHUs) aimed at delivering primary healthcare services to people living in remote, inaccessible, forest and hilly regions of Karnataka.

Launching the units in front of the grand steps of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, the Chief Minister said the initiative was intended to ensure that quality healthcare reaches citizens who have so far remained outside the formal health system.

The mobile units, rolled out under the theme “Healthcare at the remotest village”, will provide doorstep healthcare services in hard-to-reach areas, including 32 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST)-reserved constituencies. Of the total 81 units, 49 are being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM), while 32 are funded through the State government’s Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan (SCSP/TSP) allocations.

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said each mobile health unit will be staffed with an MBBS doctor, a nurse and a laboratory technician. The services offered will include outpatient consultations, basic diagnostic tests using rapid diagnostic kits, free medicines, referral services and community health monitoring. The units will also support the implementation of national and State health programmes in remote regions, the Minister said.

The MHUs will be implemented at the district level with decentralised monitoring and supervision, enabling flexibility based on local needs and geographical conditions. Officials said the units would also be deployed during medical emergencies and disasters.

As per the operational plan, each unit will conduct medical camps in two to three villages a day on fixed schedules, with prior intimation to residents. The vehicles have been procured on an outsourcing basis, while human resources will be engaged on a contractual basis.

Officials said the operational cost has been pegged at ₹1.92 lakh per unit per month, with an annual expenditure of ₹1,686.24 lakh for all 81 units. Of the total, 41 vehicles have been allotted to the North Karnataka region.

Raichur has been allotted the highest number of mobile health units (eight), followed by Uttara Kannada (six), Kalaburagi and Dakshina Kannada (five each). Belagavi, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Mysuru, Udupi and Vijayanagara districts have been allotted four units each.