Basti Dawakhanas: A boon for the poor living in GHMC areas
A clinic that offers free treatment was a dream for the poor in Hyderabad, with the services at primary health centres and community health centres in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh being limited
Hyderabad: Not everybody can head straight to a corporate hospital or private clinic whenever they have an ailment or something that is beyond a common cold. A majority still depend on government hospitals for healthcare, and that is where the Telangana government’s Basti Dawakhanas, which take treatment to the doorstep of the common man, assume significance.
A clinic that offers free treatment was a dream for the poor in Hyderabad, with the services at primary health centres and community health centres in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh being limited. That is when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) opened Basti Dawakhanas in 2018, the main idea being quality healthcare at no cost at the doorstep of the urban poor.
Offering free medicine, consultation, specialist services, diagnostic tests and even telemedicine facilities, Basti Dawakhanas have turned out to be a boon for the poor. The dawakhanas, modelled on the Mohalla Clinics in Delhi but on a much larger scale with more services, are useful for immediate medical assistance, and depending on the severity of the case, patients are referred to Osmania General Hospital or Gandhi Hospital.
The dawakhanas have become such a hit that over 25,000 citizens avail OP services daily across the city. They provide 53 kinds of free services — OPD consultation, basic lab diagnosis, medicines, antenatal/postnatal care, and screening for non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
Patients at ‘Basti Dawakhana’ in Borabanda.
Over 220 dawakhanas in GHMC
What started as a limited service in a small way has now grown into over 220 health and wellness centres across the GHMC limits, and since the Covid-19 pandemic, they have assumed significance than ever before. As per the instructions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, a total of 500 Basti Dawakanas are on the cards in the GHMC limits.
So far, 224 dawakhanas have been opened while another 50 will be functional by the year-end. The clinics, which work from 9 am to 5 pm on all days except Sunday, are playing a crucial role in extending quality healthcare services, and they have become a go-to-place for those residing in slums and low-income group colonies.
S Swetha Reddy, Medical Officer in Borabanda, says Basti Dawakhanas have come as a big help for the poor. The demand in these clinics is more for ailments such as fever, diabetes, hypertension and joint pains.
“The dawakhana in Borabanda is always busy. We witness about 150 patients daily and at times, the number goes beyond 200. We get positive feedback on treatment and medicines prescribed to patients,” she adds.
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