It started in July 16, 1991 with three rundown coaches loaned by the then railway minister George Fernandes. Ten years and 50,000 km later, the Lifeline Express changed over three lakh lives. Most of its beneficiaries are from the backward and remote regions with little or no modern medical infrastructure.
When this magic train, operated by Impact India, a New York-based non-profit heath service provider, arrives at a station for a six-week medical camp, people sometimes travel over 300 km to avail of its free medical services. Most times, the response from patients is overwhelming.
Director, Impact India, Zelma Lazarus, says that once they performed over 2,000 surgeries in six weeks in a remote stop in Bihar. Fortunately, with schools providing space, villagers sacrificing rooms and doctors volunteering, it is possible to attend the deluge of patients, says Lazarus.
Lazarus, who conceptualised the medical train, thought of using the 60,000-km-long railway network to take health care to backward areas. However, before this, Impact had conducted a hugely successful polio programme.
Polio vaccination, orthopaedic problems, cataract operation and other "avoidable disabilities" is the focus of Lifeline Express. However, they have started looking at other problems as well. Their new cleft programme is giving chance to patients like Sumeet (2) from Naya Para, Chattisgarh. Sumeet was born with a severe cleft deformity. A cleft-palate operation on the Lifeline Express more than year ago has cured him.
However, Lifeline Express, the world's first hospital on wheels, is no longer unique. It has started similar services in China and some other countries. Even in India, there are two Lifelines Expresses.
It was a daunting task to convert three rundown coaches into a hospital where minor surgeries could be performed.
But strong support from corporates and the government ensured a smooth journey. Corporate sponsorships came in as companies realised that association with the train brought them goodwill in their immediate areas of operation. Thus, for example, Larsen & Toubro sponsored a project near its cement factory in the Naxalite stronghold of northern Andhra Pradesh.
The Lifeline Express programmes are now well-planned. A month before the train arrives at a certain station for six weeks, volunteers fan out in surrounding villages asking patients to visit the Primary Health Centres for screening.
On an average, 25,000 people visit the centres before a Lifeline Express visit. When the train comes, people selected through the screening receive treatment.
Currently, one Lifeline Express is stationed at Kutch, Gujarat, since February, following the earthquake, while the other train is at Pendra Road, Chattisgarh. Among the volunteers there is Chief Minister Aji Jogi's wife, who is a surgeon.
