Mobile Medicare Units
India has no National Health Service, and 80 per cent of its older people live in rural areas with little or no access to health services.
Help the Aged funds a programme taking medical care to these remote communities, helping millions of people.
What are Mobile Medicare Units?
People queuing outside an MMU
MMUs are special medical vehicles with their own doctor, social worker, pharmacist and medical supplies.
They take health care into the most remote regions, ensuring older people get the medical attention they desperately need.
'I have arthritis, and before the MMU started coming to my village I couldn’t afford regular check ups and medicines. I thank God for sending me someone to look after me in my old age.'
Guna Bhoi, 67
MMUs reach 1,000 older people and their families every week. It’s the largest programme of its kind in Asia.
Help the Aged needs funds so the MMUs can carry on reaching the poorest regions of India where there is no health care. Help us reach the unreached - please donate online now
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How does the MMU programme work?
An older man gets treatment
Help the Aged funds over 50 Mobile Medicare Units in India.
MMUs visit each village on the same day every week and dispense free medication to older people suffering from health problems including diabetes, arthritis, tuberculosis, anaemia and cataracts.
'I have been visiting the MMU that comes to my village for two years. I get free medication for my asthma. I am so grateful to the staff at the MMU. They are my lifeline.'
Sadairam Namasudra, 70
Each MMU is linked with a government hospital or Primary Health Centre to which staff make life-saving referrals.
MMU teams hold awareness-raising 'health camps', teaching communities how to prevent and to recognise the symptoms of disease.
In emergencies, MMUs are involved in rescue, relief and long-term medical care. After the 2004 tsunami, our MMUs reached 67 villages, helping more than 45,000 older people.
Watch our short film, Reaching The Unreached
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Case study
115-year-old Fakir Ali waiting for medical camp
115-year-old Fakir Ali lives in the remote village of Dhulanja, only accessible by a manually controlled rope trolley.
When his village was devastated by the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, it was left out of relief operations. But thanks to MMU camps, people like Fakir were provided with medicine and doctors.
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How you can help
- £7 will provide over 21 treatments through an MMU.
- £12 will pay for an older person to have a cataract operation after referral by an MMU.
- £50 will supply five new stethoscopes for doctors working in MMUs.
- £100 will staff an MMU with a professional medical team for a week.
Millions of the world’s most vulnerable people are relying on your generosity. Help us reach the unreached - donate online now
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