Nainital and Almora are widely known for their scenic beauty—rolling hills, dense forests, and tranquil lakes that attract tourists from across the country. What often remains unseen, however, is the everyday reality of life in the mountain villages scattered across steep slopes and winding roads. In these remote areas, daily life is shaped by distance and difficult terrain, and access to healthcare and health information remains a big challenge. Public transport is limited, health facilities are far apart, and reaching a hospital can take several hours.
For pregnant women, elderly persons, and families living with chronic illnesses, these challenges often result in delayed or foregone care. Routine and essential services such as regular antenatal check-ups are not consistently available at nearby primary health centres, leaving many women without timely monitoring during pregnancy.
Aarohi is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering development and addressing the needs of rural communities in Uttarakhand. Our mission focuses on sustainable livelihoods, quality healthcare, education, and natural resource management, with women and children at the centre of our efforts. Based in Satoli, we impact over 200,000 lives across 550 villages annually. Through an integrated approach, Aarohi empowers rural communities, improving healthcare, education, and livelihoods, while making a lasting social and environmental impact.
Each camp is staffed by a multidisciplinary team comprising a physician, gynaecologist, radiologist, nurses, laboratory technician, pharmacist, and support staff. Specialist doctors join the unit for several days each month.
Responding to the gaps that exist, Aarohi initiated a Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) in 2014 to bring essential healthcare services closer to people’s homes. The MMU is a specially designed bus equipped with diagnostic facilities, including scanning services. It currently serves a population of over seventy thousand people across 130 villages, covering more than 500 kilometres in the districts of Nainital, Almora, and Champawat. Operating on a fixed monthly schedule, the MMU conducts camps from the 1st to the 10th of each month, with route plans shared in advance with block and district health authorities to ensure coordination with the public health system. At each campsite, residents from 15 to 25 surrounding villages benefit from the services offered. The MMU conducts around 90 camps annually and has completed over 1,100 camps to date.
In addition to maternal health services, the MMU is equipped with a pathology laboratory, pharmacy, and ECG facilities.
Each camp is staffed by a multidisciplinary team comprising a physician, gynaecologist, radiologist, nurses, laboratory technician, pharmacist, and support staff. Specialist doctors join the unit for several days each month, ensuring continuity of care and access to services that are otherwise difficult to reach in remote mountain regions. The ASHA workers and Village elected representatives play a significant role in mobilizing the patients, organizing the campsite and helping the MMU team to run smooth and successful recurring camps.
What makes the MMU particularly distinctive is the breadth of services available within a single mobile clinic. It is among the few mobile units in the country equipped with ultrasound facilities—an uncommon feature in mobile healthcare due to regulatory and operational requirements. For pregnant women in these villages, Aarohi’s MMU remains the only reliable and affordable option for ultrasound scanning and comprehensive antenatal care. Approximately 2,000 ultrasound screenings are conducted each year, and with the support of the MMU, maternal deaths have been eliminated in the service areas over the past three years.
The MMU’s work is closely integrated with Aarohi’s ongoing community health initiatives led by Women’s Health Resource Centres, village health workers, and community nurses.
In addition to maternal health services, the MMU is equipped with a pathology laboratory, pharmacy, and ECG facilities. This enables basic investigations, diagnosis, and treatment to be completed during a single visit, reducing the need for multiple referrals and repeated travel.
Public health morbidity arising from untreated surgical conditions has emerged as a global health priority over the past decade. In response, the MMU also screens patients for essential surgical conditions during camps, referring them for further surgical care at the Aarohi Arogya Kendra. Alongside this, the MMU ensures uninterrupted access to essential medicines for patients with hypertension and diabetes, particularly benefiting the geriatric population.
The MMU’s work is closely integrated with Aarohi’s ongoing community health initiatives led by Women’s Health Resource Centres, village health workers, and community nurses. Working alongside public frontline health workers, these teams play a vital role in identifying and mobilising pregnant women, children, and other vulnerable individuals. They conduct home visits for health education, counselling, and follow-up, and support continuity of care after referrals. The availability of ultrasound services through the MMU has enabled early identification of maternal and neonatal complications, allowing for timely referrals and closer monitoring through community-based follow-up mechanisms.
Delivering healthcare in the mountains brings its own challenges. Landslides, road damage, heavy snowfall, and cloudbursts can at times make it impossible for the MMU to reach certain villages. During such periods, outreach OPD camps are organised using smaller vehicles equipped with basic diagnostics and essential medicines to address immediate healthcare needs.
By bringing healthcare services closer to where people live, the Mobile Medical Unit has significantly reduced barriers to care, lowered out-of-pocket expenses for families, and strengthened access to maternal and essential health services in some of the remotest parts of rural Kumaon. For mountain communities, the MMU has become a vital lifeline—bringing quality healthcare to their doorsteps and ensuring that geography no longer determines access to care.