As part of CSR initiative, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray donated a Mobile Healthcare van to Wockhardt Foundation in Mumbai on the occasion of his 55th birthday to benefit underprivileged people. Inaugurated by Thackeray and Wockhardt Foundation's Trustee and CEO, Dr Huzaifa Khorakiwala, the mobile healthcare van will be operated and managed by Wochardt Foundation for providing primary healthcare to the needy in Mumbai.

Launched in 2007, Wockhardt Foundation’s ISO 9001:2008 approved Mobile 1000 programme has been successfully administering high quality, free, primary healthcare services to growing number of rural areas across India.

Dr Khorakiwala said, “Through the Mobile 1000 van we aim to make healthcare accessible to the needy in the country. Wockhardt Foundation’s Mobile 1000 health vans will provide free basic healthcare service to 25000 people in Mumbai. I am thankful to Mr Thackeray in understanding the gap in healthcare access in the country and doing his bit for Mumbaites through this initiative.”

The Mobile 1000 health van equipped with a GPS tracking system and consisting of 1 doctor, 1 pharmacist and 1 driver travels across villages conducting free OPD/health screening for rural people and providing free basic health services. They work towards creating awareness in rural areas on sanitation, hygiene, mother and child healthcare, safe drinking water, immunization, anemia, de-worming, vector-borne diseases, HIV, snake-bites, diabetes and tuberculosis. This is followed up with diagnosis and treatment. Specific cases requiring specialty care are referred to specialists.

Wockhardt Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization engaged in social service and human welfare activities. Its 9 programmes have made perceptible change in its areas of operations to the lives of the underprivileged.

Mobile 1000, its flagship programme, aims at operating 1000 Mobile Health Vans in rural India and administering free primary healthcare to 25 million Indians every year. As of date, there are 54 Mobile 1000 Vans operating in 14 states and doing yeoman service to rural India.

Its other programmes like Little Hearts, Swachhalaya, Bio Toilet, E-Learning, Khel Khel Mein, Wockhardt Health Education Institute, SHUDHU water purification tablets and Adarsh Gram Yojana have made significant impact and it continues to expand its social coverage in areas where the need is the most.

Concludes Dr Khorakiwala, "Wockhardt Foundation operates its social programmes based on the 3 B's - Big, Best and Bold. The Big ensures scale, the Best ensures quality and the Bold ensures need.Wockhardt Foundation is governed by a simple philosophy -"where every smile counts".