'Train Of Hope' Brings Healthcare To South Africa's Poor
Umer Jamshaid Published June 23, 2021 | 04:17 PM
A 19-coach train pulled into the Dube station of South Africa's emblematic Soweto township early in the morning to bring desperately-needed and virtually free medical services to poor residents
Soweto (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2021 ) :A 19-coach train pulled into the Dube station of South Africa's emblematic Soweto township early in the morning to bring desperately-needed and virtually free medical services to poor residents.
Equipped with instruments and gear for optometry, dentistry, general medicine, psychology and a pharmacy -- the Phelophepa clinic-on-rails criss-crosses the country for nine months a year.
Law student Retshepile Mosena, 18, was among the hundreds that thronged the station south of Johannesburg this week.
She has suffered sight problems for two years, but has struggled to save for an eye test and spectacles.
"I was... saving up to buy glasses for myself, but this opportunity came up and I took it," she said waiting on the platform for her lenses to be fitted into a frame.
She paid just 30 rand ($2.10/1.76 Euros) for the test and glasses - a fraction of what she would have paid elsewhere.
Despite being the most advanced economy on the continent, South Africa grapples with widespread poverty and high unemployment.
Healthcare is virtually out of reach for the poor, and Phelophepa, which means "good, clean health" in the Tswana and Sotho language, is a godsend.
Run by Transnet, the state-owned logistics operator, it started in 1994 -- the year apartheid ended in South Africa -- as a modest three-coach optometry service.
"Hundred percent health coverage is still not about to be reached any time soon," in South Africa, said the train's acting manager, Thelma Sateke.
So the mandate is to bring "health service to the people, where it's needed the most," she said.
While the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging the country has limited its function and reach, it is expected to attend to around 65,000 people this year, said Sateke.
"The train still has a lot to do..., to bring the services to the rural areas (and urban) where services are nonexistent at some point or they are very rare".
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz in police uniform at Chung police center
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 25 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 25 April 2024
Mired in crisis, Boeing reports another loss
Session Awarding Ceremony 2024 held at Cadet College Muzaffarabad
Austrian ski great Hirscher to make comeback under Dutch flag
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
More Stories From Health
-
Vaccines save at least 154 million lives in 50 years: WHO
16 hours ago -
UHS to issue MBBS degrees within three months after final result
20 hours ago -
Rawalpindi woman gives birth to six babies
6 days ago -
DC calls for intensive anti-polio drive in ICT
7 days ago -
World Hemophilia Day observed to underscore importance of providing comprehensive care
8 days ago -
Six in a family with heart on the 'right side'
8 days ago
-
Diabetic disease increasing rapidly : Dr. Noor Elahi Memon
8 days ago -
World Hemophilia Day observed
8 days ago -
ATC dismisses bail petition of doctor involved in illegal kidneys transplant
16 days ago -
Dr. Shehzad warns against deviation from WHO guidelines on anti-smoking
16 days ago -
Health activists express concerns over attempts to derail tobacco control
18 days ago -
UHS declares MBBS first prof, MS urology exam results
27 days ago