HYDERABAD: Osman Nagar in the Old City has become synonymous with misery due to constant flooding during the monsoon, but a local mosque has emerged as the messiah. Come rain or shine, the mosque has been providing shelter to locals and offering free medical facilities through a clinic on its premises. The money saved on medical bills has even helped the poor better their lives and put more food on the table.
After treating about 60,000 patients in just nine months since January this year, perhaps a first for a mosque clinic in the country, it is now actively campaigning against dengue. Apart from blood tests to detect the virus, the Masjid Omar Shifa clinic also conducted a massive sanitisation drive in Osman Nagar under Maheshwaram mandal with the help of local civic authorities and NGO Helping Hand Foundation (HHF).
Osman Nagar has been perpetually waterlogged since October 2020 rains. Uncleared garbage, overflowing drains and frequent waterlogging after rains have turned it into a breeding ground for vector-borne diseases, particularly dengue and malaria.
A survey across 700 households by the mosque clinic in association with HHF showed that 95% of the respondents highlighted unhygienic conditions and overflowing drains as the major civic problems affecting the area.
“The survey was taken up after the primary health care centre at the mosque clinic in Osman Nagar received 25 dengue cases of children between 10 and 18 years old within a month,” said HHF managing trustee Mujtaba Hasan Askari.
Another survey earlier in September revealed that the mosque clinic had helped in improving the social indices in Osman Nagar.
About 65% residents said that out-of-pocket expenses that they had saved thanks to the free treatment at the mosque had improved their food security and helped them meet school fees of children, Askari said.
He said the area faced a double-whammy of flooding and Covid-induced lockdown, making life miserable for residents already plagued by poor infrastructure in their area. Job losses, poor health, loss of property and displacement was found to be the common thread running across most households.
The mosque clinic also runs a minor operation theatre, besides giving dental, ophthalmological services and a free ambulance. The services are free for all irrespective of caste or creed.
