Jamshedpur, Feb. 16: Alarmed by the poor health statistics in East Singhbhum district that emerged during the district Health Mela held at Moubhander in Ghatshila recently, the health department has decided to organise such fairs at the block level on a weekly basis.

Sources in the district health department said the process of organising such camps has already started.

Heads of all the departments have been asked to submit their requirements to organise such fairs regularly.

East Singhbhum civil surgeon S.S. Birua said the decision to organise health fairs was taken in view of the poor health condition of patients living in remote areas of the district.

Health fairs would be held every week on the Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital premises from next week.

“All the department heads have been asked to fix a particular date on which they will be able to organise the fair. They will also have to submit a list of their requirements that may help cater to a large number of patients who are expected to visit the weekly fairs,” he said.

Birua added that they would notify the day on which the weekly fair would be held in the next couple of days.

Patients will have access to the same kind of facilities like free surgery and medicine at the weekly fair as they had at the district Health Mela in Moubhander, he said.

The civil surgeon said they would provide facilities like cataract operation, family planning operation, hydrosil and hernia surgery in the first phase of the fair.

“Every week we intend to conduct at least 25 cases in each category,” he added.

The deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum, Sunil Kumar Burnwal, who is also the chairman of the District Blind Control Society and Reproductive and Child Healthcare Society, has cleared financial assistance for organising the cataract and family planning operations, Birua said.

He said the department would also request the Tata Steel Family Initiative Foundation and Parivar Kalyan Sansthan to organise family planning camps, which it has been organising at different blocks on a weekly basis.

The department would also conduct cataract, hydrosil, and hernia surgery on a weekly basis once it receives the equipment.