Indian hospital train brings free surgery and scans to villages lacking adequate health care
In India, where 70 per cent lack easy access to medical treatment, the Lifeline Express has provided top-quality care to a million people for everything from cataracts to cancer; a second train could start running this year
When the Lifeline Express chugged into the rural Indian town of Jalore, Bhagwana Ram Prajapat was waiting keenly to board.
The 55-year-old has been looking desperately for treatment for his grandson’s cleft lip, and the specially converted sky-blue, seven-coach train was the answer to his prayers.
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“We had been waiting for the surgery ever since the child was born 18 months ago,” said Prajapat as his grandson was wheeled into the operating theatre on board the hospital train.
The Lifeline Express has been providing free treatment to the needy in deepest India for nearly three decades. It has helped more than one million people, treating ailments ranging from cataracts to cancer.
The train criss-crosses India, providing state-of-the-art medical care to those who would otherwise have to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest major hospital. It spends about a month in a district before moving on to a new destination, filling a critical gap in India’s public health system.