NEW DELHI, SEPT 16: Mathura will host the first of a series of health melas announced by the Union Health Ministry recently in an attempt to take health care to the masses.The three-day mela, to be organised by the Uttar Pradesh government, will be aided by the Central Ministry along with the Indian Oil Corporation and will be inaugurated by Health Minister C.P. Thakur tomorrow. According to the minister, the melaisation of health is a result of the thinking that all-round health of citizens has to be attended to and it even lead to birth control as well. The ministry feels that attempts at birth control failed in the past as general health was neglected, leading to high maternal and infant mortality rates.With its 22 stalls, the mela would take the best and essential diagnostic facilities to people in and around Mathura. Specialists from medical colleges in Agra, Aligarh, RML Hospital, Safgdarjung Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi, would be available for treating patients.Every visitor would be offered complete physical check-up free of cost. Volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendras, National Service Scheme, Indian Medical Association and doctors from voluntary agencies would be involved.The coming three months would see similar melas at Lucknow, Ghazipur, Patna, Imphal, Bhopal, Guwahati and Jaipur. The Minister said that every mela would be preceded by a health survey of the area, as had been done in Mathura.The ministry has pitching in Rs 2 lakh and the Indian Oil is giving an aid of Rs 10 lakh for the mela while the remaining expenses would have to be borne by the state government.
