Aalo Clinic: A Shining Example of Outstanding Healthcare Service
A patient can consult their doctors in only ten minutes. It is an impressive accomplishment in a nation like Bangladesh where waiting times at the doctor's office are infamously long. However, this was a feature rather than an anomaly.
This quick service was not provided by a hospital with a well-known name. This was Aalo clinic of the capital's Karail slum area. Although it was initially intended to serve 30,000–35,000 residents of slums, the clinic now provides quality treatments based on digital technology to about 1,40,000 residents of slums and other places, living up to its name—aalo, which means light. The fact that the patients receive this treatment for no charge makes it more appealing. Patients not only save time, but also money on pricey medical expenses.
Aalo Clinic is a two-year pilot project that offers free medical treatment to city residents. It is financed by Swedish Sida and has technical assistance from Unicef. There are plans in place to integrate this Aalo Clinic concept within the health ministry's Urban Health Care division.
Locations:
Aalo clinic is providing service in six areas of Dhaka. They are:
- Karail slum, Mohakhali.
- Duaripara, Mirpur.
- Shyampur industrial area.
- Dhalpur, Jatrabari.
- Ershad Nagar, Tongi.
- Tanbazar, Narayanganj.
Each clinic has a goal of serving between 30,000 and 35,000 people. Except on Fridays and public holidays, the Aalo Clinic is open from 8:30 am to 2:30 am and 3 pm to 9 pm.
Patients receive treatment for general disorders at this clinic, including prenatal and postnatal care, family planning assistance, EPI immunization, and treatment for non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and all varieties of seasonal illnesses.
Services provided:
- There is no charge for any services.
- Patients receive treatment for common, seasonal, and NCDs, as well as EPI vaccination and family planning services.
- 23 different types of medications are administered.
- Ten examinations are performed, including CBC, creatinine, ECC, dengue, and diabetes.
- Every step is digitized, from patient registration to prescription writing to test results.
- Once a patient has registered, clinicians can access information about their prior medical history for any future visits or follow-up care.
- The standard time for doctors to see a patient is 8-10 minute.
As the country's urban population continues to rise, so does the burden on the country's tertiary and secondary care institutions in treating an array of ailments, including non-communicable diseases. It has been suggested by specialists that the Ministry of Health adopt the Aalo Clinic model, which was created after analyzing the approaches taken by other countries' urban health care systems.