Healthcare in villages
IRHS runs clinics in two villages in the rural semi-arid tropics of Telangana: Dokur and Kotakadra. These villages are located in Mahbubnagar district.
The majority of IRHS patients are from landless or small farm families who must also work as farm labour for others to make ends meet. Increasingly we see autorickshaw drivers and small shopkeepers using our clinics.
Clinic services
Experienced paramedics, healthcare assistants and volunteers staff the clinics. They are supported by urban-based office staff for ‘ready reference’ (which includes a panel of specialists who will answer questions quickly). During parts of the year, volunteer doctors spend 1 - 3 months living in the villages in order to improve the medical knowledge of the paramedics. Village paramedics and healthcare assistants can treat the majority of patients they see in the clinic. However, those needing secondary care are largely referred to Mahbubnagar’s district hospital since it was upgraded to a teaching hospital. This has provided more treatment options and patients easily move between the district hospital for tests and diagnosis and the village clinics for prescriptions, health education and monitoring as per the district hospital doctor’s advice. When patients require greater specialised care they are referred to hospitals in Hyderabad.This creates an integrated system that utilises existing government and private services.
Clinic services include but are not limited to:
- Consultation and diagnosis
- Referrals to specialised treatment
- Follow up appointments at public and private hospitals
- Basic lab tests
- Pharmacy
- Home visits to families with children under 3 years of age to monitor their growth, provide advice on appropriate food and nutritional support
- Psychiatric services from a qualified volunteer psychiatrist
Our impact since 2008
95,553
patients visited our rural clinics
4,099
referred to Hyderabad for specialised treatment
60,000
patients registered with our clinics