lifeline express
CHUGGING FOR LIFE
Mrityunjay Bose
Seven-year-old Vijay, a resident of Khalari in Bihar, had a dream. Dream of walking without help – he had contracted polio. He was the first patient to be operated on board world's first hospital train – the Lifeline Express - in 1991. He had contracted polio soon after birth, spent his first few years crawling on all fours, then attempting to walk again with home-made bamboo crutches, falling frequently, never safe to go anywhere unaccompanied. More than one-and-a-half decades later, now he walks without crutches, his leg supported in plastic calipers, which he swings at ease.
Mohit Ram, a barber from Bargaon village in the district of Durg, Madhya Pradesh has his joy tripled. Misfortune just struck his family 10 years ago when his second child was born blind. Subsequently, he had two more children both blind. Despite a meager salary Mohit Ram took his children wherever he could for treatment in vain. Finally, at a medical camp at Raipur he was firmly told by the doctors that he should not harbour any hope that his children may regain vision. He had no future for his children. When Mohit Ram heard about the Lifeline Express, he was reluctant to take his chance. However after much persuasion from his villagers, a few who had already benefited from the Lifeline Express, he took his three blind children to the surgical camp. On February 16, 1999, all the three children were operated for Extra Capsular Cataract Extraction with posterior capsulatomy with Infra Occular Lenses (IOL) on the right eye. They showed excellent recovery and were further operated on the left eye on February 20, l999. Today, Mohit Ram has his faith restored . All three of his children have a bright future with vision in both their eyes.
Vijay and Mohit Ram are not the isolated ones; there are several other examples thanks to the Lifeline Express, the hospital-on-wheels, and the first-of-its-kind of project in the world. The statistics of the Lifeline Express are staggering enough. Each of them represents a human being given a whole new way of life in a land where disability is often fatalistically accepted.
The Lifeline Express – a partnership of the Indian Railways and Impact India Foundation, has been serving the country for two decades against avoidable disablement. Till date, the Lifeline Express, has provided medical services to nearly 4,50,000 persons in remote and rural areas of India where medical facilities are almost non-existent.
For each health project the hospital train is parked at a railway siding for a period of 30-45 days and provides on-the-spot diagnostic medical and surgical treatment completely free of charge. The Lifeline Express Project has won international acclaim and several awards, including the United Nations Grand Award for Excellence in Public Service worldwide.
To mark the occasion in July this year, the Indian Railways handed over five new state-of the-art coaches for the lifeline Express, to Impact India Foundation. The new coaches are designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. It was launched in presence of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad. "It is a harbinger of hope for the poor," said Mrs Gandhi in New Delhi's National Rail Museum. In fact, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation actively supports the Lifeline Express project.
"The old Lifeline Express hospital train comprising of four coaches will be placed on a plot of land given to Impact by the Maharashtra Government and converted into a stand-along hospital with all its expensive medical equipment for the benefit for the poor tribals in Thane district," informs Mrs Zelma Lazarus, the Chief Executive Officer of Impact India Foundation, located in Mumbai.
The train has virtually everything. One car of the Lifeline Express contains an operation theatre capable of handling three surgical procedures simultaneously. Another houses a small laboratory, a diagnostic centre and a 12-bed ward. All of the 20 to 3 doctors and nurses are volunteers. The train usually remains on one spot for six weeks – and in a year five to seven projects are held. The staff concentrate on common medical problems – cataract, deafness, cleft-lip or polio – all of which can be alleviated with simple surgery. "Its reach is unique and wherever we have gone we have received tremendous support," points out Mrs Lazarus. In fact, after the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, the train was sent there and rendered help to several people.
Impact India Foundation:
It is an international initiative against avoidable disablement and is the first, and most successful, of the worldwide network of 19 Foundations, promoted, but not financially supported, by three United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. Impact India is a partnership of the Government, having been formed out of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution; therefore all projects of Impact India Foundation are in joint partnership with the Government, and local organisations. Impact India will do everything possible to ensure that the spirit of this partnership remains. Impact acts as a leader catalyst to bring together business houses, Non-Government organizations, the medical profession and the local community in rural health projects. Impact India has successfully implemented a range of disability preventive and corrective measures: immunization against Polio, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus and Measles, Guinea Worm eradication and Malaria Control.
How Lifeline Express Started:
"You know," India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said one day, "Sometime you ought to use a train, the Indian Railways. It is most efficient and covers every village." When Panditji voiced himself to Sir John Wilson, a prominent British Advocate for the disabled, little did he realize that his words would some day germinate the concept of hospital-train. Subsequently, the leaders of Impact India took up the challenge and finally came out with the train in 1991.
A model to follow
The Lifeline Express, the world's first hospital on a train, has become a model for transfer of Indian appropriate technology to being replicated by similar projects in China, Zimbabwe and a hospital riverboat - "Jibon Tori", in Bangladesh. China is planning to roll out more such trains. China has made four such trains each comprising of 16 coaches and they are running across the country.
UNIQUE ENTRIES IN VISITORS BOOK:
" It was a great opportunity for me to see the Lifeline Express in action. I congratulate all those responsible for this wonderful service - for their dedication, commitment and efficiency. This is indeed a great boon to the poor patients. " – former Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander
" - Good Thoughts lead to Good Deeds - What Impact and other friends have done and are doing deserves emulation - in many more directions - strength in the elbows - Those who give their Money give much - but those who give their time give much more ! " –former Mumbai Sheriff Jehangir K S Nicholson
"I am delighted to be with the Lifeline Express again - a vehicle that will carry medical care of the highest quality to the people in remote rural areas. This Project is very close to the objectives of the RGF and therefore we are pleased to co-operate with Impact India in every way possible. My best wishes. " – Finance Minister P Chidambaram
" An excellent and very useful project practicably for the poor and deprived sections of society. I express my gratitude to all who are connected with it. " – former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu
The services offered in the Lifeline Express are:
Restoration of movement to polio and orthopaedically affected persons by surgery and provision of calipers;
Restoration of sight through cataract operations and providing intra ocular lenses;
Restoration of hearing through surgery and supply of hearing aids;
Correction of clefts through surgery;
Counselling and referral services;
Follow-up of patients' progress through arrangements with local authorities;
Preventive services in the form of immunisation, administration of nutrients, and creating health awareness among the deprived in the neglected rural and semi-urban areas;
Opportunity provided to medical and other voluntary personnel to work in a unique field situation;
Teaching surgeons, working in smaller towns, the finer skills of micro-surgery ;
Training health workers, doctors and other non-government organisation's on various health issues.
* Lifeline Express, world's first hospital-on-rails chugged out on July 16, 1991.
* When the devastating earthquake struck Gujarat on January 26, 2001, the government hospitals in some places were affected and some were reduced to rubbles. The Lifeline Express arrived as Godsend. It was stationed in Anjar for quite some time.
* During the earthquake at Latur - more than one-and-a-half-decades ago, the magic train has rendered service.
* All operations are conducted free of cost.
* As regards the number of projects are concerned, it will soon hit a century.
* It has treated more than four lakh people.
(This story was first published in the Science Reporter)
(Mrityunjay Bose works as the Mumbai-based Principal Correspondent of The Maharashtra Herald, a daily from Pune. He address is 102, A-Wing, VK Tower, Evershine City, Vasai (East), Thane - 401208, email: mrityunjaybose@gmail.com)
Mrityunjay Bose
Seven-year-old Vijay, a resident of Khalari in Bihar, had a dream. Dream of walking without help – he had contracted polio. He was the first patient to be operated on board world's first hospital train – the Lifeline Express - in 1991. He had contracted polio soon after birth, spent his first few years crawling on all fours, then attempting to walk again with home-made bamboo crutches, falling frequently, never safe to go anywhere unaccompanied. More than one-and-a-half decades later, now he walks without crutches, his leg supported in plastic calipers, which he swings at ease.
Mohit Ram, a barber from Bargaon village in the district of Durg, Madhya Pradesh has his joy tripled. Misfortune just struck his family 10 years ago when his second child was born blind. Subsequently, he had two more children both blind. Despite a meager salary Mohit Ram took his children wherever he could for treatment in vain. Finally, at a medical camp at Raipur he was firmly told by the doctors that he should not harbour any hope that his children may regain vision. He had no future for his children. When Mohit Ram heard about the Lifeline Express, he was reluctant to take his chance. However after much persuasion from his villagers, a few who had already benefited from the Lifeline Express, he took his three blind children to the surgical camp. On February 16, 1999, all the three children were operated for Extra Capsular Cataract Extraction with posterior capsulatomy with Infra Occular Lenses (IOL) on the right eye. They showed excellent recovery and were further operated on the left eye on February 20, l999. Today, Mohit Ram has his faith restored . All three of his children have a bright future with vision in both their eyes.
Vijay and Mohit Ram are not the isolated ones; there are several other examples thanks to the Lifeline Express, the hospital-on-wheels, and the first-of-its-kind of project in the world. The statistics of the Lifeline Express are staggering enough. Each of them represents a human being given a whole new way of life in a land where disability is often fatalistically accepted.
The Lifeline Express – a partnership of the Indian Railways and Impact India Foundation, has been serving the country for two decades against avoidable disablement. Till date, the Lifeline Express, has provided medical services to nearly 4,50,000 persons in remote and rural areas of India where medical facilities are almost non-existent.
For each health project the hospital train is parked at a railway siding for a period of 30-45 days and provides on-the-spot diagnostic medical and surgical treatment completely free of charge. The Lifeline Express Project has won international acclaim and several awards, including the United Nations Grand Award for Excellence in Public Service worldwide.
To mark the occasion in July this year, the Indian Railways handed over five new state-of the-art coaches for the lifeline Express, to Impact India Foundation. The new coaches are designed and manufactured by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. It was launched in presence of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad. "It is a harbinger of hope for the poor," said Mrs Gandhi in New Delhi's National Rail Museum. In fact, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation actively supports the Lifeline Express project.
"The old Lifeline Express hospital train comprising of four coaches will be placed on a plot of land given to Impact by the Maharashtra Government and converted into a stand-along hospital with all its expensive medical equipment for the benefit for the poor tribals in Thane district," informs Mrs Zelma Lazarus, the Chief Executive Officer of Impact India Foundation, located in Mumbai.
The train has virtually everything. One car of the Lifeline Express contains an operation theatre capable of handling three surgical procedures simultaneously. Another houses a small laboratory, a diagnostic centre and a 12-bed ward. All of the 20 to 3 doctors and nurses are volunteers. The train usually remains on one spot for six weeks – and in a year five to seven projects are held. The staff concentrate on common medical problems – cataract, deafness, cleft-lip or polio – all of which can be alleviated with simple surgery. "Its reach is unique and wherever we have gone we have received tremendous support," points out Mrs Lazarus. In fact, after the devastating earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, the train was sent there and rendered help to several people.
Impact India Foundation:
It is an international initiative against avoidable disablement and is the first, and most successful, of the worldwide network of 19 Foundations, promoted, but not financially supported, by three United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. Impact India is a partnership of the Government, having been formed out of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution; therefore all projects of Impact India Foundation are in joint partnership with the Government, and local organisations. Impact India will do everything possible to ensure that the spirit of this partnership remains. Impact acts as a leader catalyst to bring together business houses, Non-Government organizations, the medical profession and the local community in rural health projects. Impact India has successfully implemented a range of disability preventive and corrective measures: immunization against Polio, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus and Measles, Guinea Worm eradication and Malaria Control.
How Lifeline Express Started:
"You know," India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said one day, "Sometime you ought to use a train, the Indian Railways. It is most efficient and covers every village." When Panditji voiced himself to Sir John Wilson, a prominent British Advocate for the disabled, little did he realize that his words would some day germinate the concept of hospital-train. Subsequently, the leaders of Impact India took up the challenge and finally came out with the train in 1991.
A model to follow
The Lifeline Express, the world's first hospital on a train, has become a model for transfer of Indian appropriate technology to being replicated by similar projects in China, Zimbabwe and a hospital riverboat - "Jibon Tori", in Bangladesh. China is planning to roll out more such trains. China has made four such trains each comprising of 16 coaches and they are running across the country.
UNIQUE ENTRIES IN VISITORS BOOK:
" It was a great opportunity for me to see the Lifeline Express in action. I congratulate all those responsible for this wonderful service - for their dedication, commitment and efficiency. This is indeed a great boon to the poor patients. " – former Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander
" - Good Thoughts lead to Good Deeds - What Impact and other friends have done and are doing deserves emulation - in many more directions - strength in the elbows - Those who give their Money give much - but those who give their time give much more ! " –former Mumbai Sheriff Jehangir K S Nicholson
"I am delighted to be with the Lifeline Express again - a vehicle that will carry medical care of the highest quality to the people in remote rural areas. This Project is very close to the objectives of the RGF and therefore we are pleased to co-operate with Impact India in every way possible. My best wishes. " – Finance Minister P Chidambaram
" An excellent and very useful project practicably for the poor and deprived sections of society. I express my gratitude to all who are connected with it. " – former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu
The services offered in the Lifeline Express are:
Restoration of movement to polio and orthopaedically affected persons by surgery and provision of calipers;
Restoration of sight through cataract operations and providing intra ocular lenses;
Restoration of hearing through surgery and supply of hearing aids;
Correction of clefts through surgery;
Counselling and referral services;
Follow-up of patients' progress through arrangements with local authorities;
Preventive services in the form of immunisation, administration of nutrients, and creating health awareness among the deprived in the neglected rural and semi-urban areas;
Opportunity provided to medical and other voluntary personnel to work in a unique field situation;
Teaching surgeons, working in smaller towns, the finer skills of micro-surgery ;
Training health workers, doctors and other non-government organisation's on various health issues.
* Lifeline Express, world's first hospital-on-rails chugged out on July 16, 1991.
* When the devastating earthquake struck Gujarat on January 26, 2001, the government hospitals in some places were affected and some were reduced to rubbles. The Lifeline Express arrived as Godsend. It was stationed in Anjar for quite some time.
* During the earthquake at Latur - more than one-and-a-half-decades ago, the magic train has rendered service.
* All operations are conducted free of cost.
* As regards the number of projects are concerned, it will soon hit a century.
* It has treated more than four lakh people.
(This story was first published in the Science Reporter)
(Mrityunjay Bose works as the Mumbai-based Principal Correspondent of The Maharashtra Herald, a daily from Pune. He address is 102, A-Wing, VK Tower, Evershine City, Vasai (East), Thane - 401208, email: mrityunjaybose@gmail.com)
Comments