| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 24
| Issue : 2 | Page : 84-90 |
Bridging the gaps in health service delivery for truck drivers of India through mobile medical units
Subrata Chanda1, Sonali Randhawa2, Hardeep Singh Bambrah3, Thomson Fernandes4, Vishal Dogra5, Shailendra Hegde6
1 Clinical Domain, Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
2 SATH, Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
3 Operations, Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Guwahati, Assam, India
4 CSR, Shriram Transport Finance Company, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
5 Research and Analysis, Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
6 Innovations, Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Subrata Chanda
Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati - 781021, Assam
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_276_19
Background: Truck drivers in India suffer from many lifestyle-related health problems. Providing primary health care services to truck drivers is essential to improve their overall health and well-being. This paper reports the findings of a community-based mobile medical unit program providing nonemergency and basic primary care services to truck drivers along the major highways of India. Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute launched this community-based mobile medical unit program, in partnership with Shriram Transport Finance Corporation Limited (STFCL). Materials and Methods: The paper describes the program model, its coverage, the sociodemographic profile, and common health morbidities of the truck drivers availing the program services. 2-year routine program data (April 2017 to March 2019) were accessed and analyzed. Results: A total of 1,167,210 number of unique truck drivers availed the program services during the reference period, of which 61,331 had complete data. The majority of truck drivers were male (99.1%) and just a few women (0.88%) and transgender (0.003%). The mean age was 45.5 years ± 10.91 and nearly half (49%) were in the productive age group (31–45 years). Noncommunicable and other chronic diseases (34.74%), musculoskeletal problems (24.17%), communicable diseases (14.52%), oral cavity-related problems (1.23%), and other minor ailments (17.77%) were the major consultation categories. Conclusion: Truck drivers in India have significant health morbidities. Providing primary health care services to truck drivers through mobile medical units is a step toward achieving universal health coverage.
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