Lifeline Express is the world's first hospital-train! Established in 1991, the train has travelled the length and breadth of the country, bringing medical aid and relief to the most far-flung, inaccessible areas. To take a tour of the hospital-train & know more interesting facts about itLifeline Express, which is also commonly called the Magic Train of India is about to complete 23 years of service. The train, is the flagship of Impact India Foundation, in partnership with the Indian Railways.Equipped with a state-of-the-art operation theatre, surgeons on board the train have performed countless disability correction surgeries for cleft lips, polio affected limbs and cataract removals.The train aims to provide healthcare facilities to rural India, which normally has less access to medical services.Over almost 23 years, the train has travelled to numerous parts of India, be it Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh or Kerala.The Lifeline Express offers services like restoration of sight through cataract operations, correction of clefts through surgery, dental services.
It also teaches surgeons, working in smaller towns, the finer skills of micro-surgery.According to Impact India, Lifeline Express has become a model for transfer of appropriate technology to other countries to set up similar projects in China, Central Africa and river boat hospitals in Bangladesh and Cambodia.On 16th July 1991, Impact India Foundation (IIF) commenced a unique project – the Lifeline Express (LLE), the world’s first state-of-the-art hospital train. The train was built to reach the needy differently abled people, who reside in the remote rural areas, where medical services are scarce.
For the last 24 years, the LLE has served approximately one million rural disabled including more than one lakh surgeries, all free-of-cost, over 163 projects across more than 100 Districts in 19 States of the country – restoring sight, hearing, movement and correction of clefts, treatment of epilepsy, neurological and dental problems.
On an average, the LLE provides medical relief including surgeries to about 6000 people per project, lasting for about 3-4 weeks, 10 projects a year. There are two fully equipped Operation Theatres on the train with a total of five Operating tables. All these have been made possible thanks to a large number of sponsors and the donated skills of surgeons and other medical personnel from India and across the world.
WORTH Trust runs three Technical Training Centres (TTC) – in Katpadi, Trichy and Pondicherry. The TTCs provide training to the differently abled students (speech & hearing impaired and physically challenged) in Turner, Machinist, Electronic Mechanic and Welder trades and prepares them for the National Council for Vocational Trades (NCVT), Government of India examination. It is a formal two year residential programme. Upon completion of the course the students are placed either in the various units of WORTH Trust or in other reputed industries.
The WORTH production centres – WORTH Braillers, WORTH Plastics, WORTH Industries – themselves employ most of the trainees. The earnings from the production centres fund the entire cost of its Technical training, School for speech and hearing impaired children and outreach activities.
