As part of scaling up the market intervention to make essential drugs, medical devices and diagnostic services affordable to the common man, Mini-Ratna public sector undertaking HLL Lifecare Ltd will expand its foothold in Orissa by setting up 32 labs and several retail outlets.

HLL Lifecare, better known as the leading condom-manufacturer in the world, is rolling out its retail operations across India through its two brands - Hindlabs and Lifecare Centre - under the Healthcare Service Division.

After the thumping success in many States, HLL has signed a couple of Memorandum of Understanding  (MoU) with the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Odisha, to set up Hindlabs and Lifecare Centres, the two unique initiatives that had affected a price reduction even in the open market, HLL chairman and the managing director Dr M Ayyappan told a news conference here.

Under the MoU, comprehensive medical retail outlets named Lifecare Centres (LCC) have already started functioning at three medical college hospitals – Shrirama Chandra Bhanj Medical College, Cuttack; Veer Surendra Sai Medical College, Burla; and Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College & Hospital, Berhampur.

HLL is in the process of setting up two Hindlabs with 1.5 Tesla MRI scan machines to provide essential service to the patients in the districts surrounding the hospitals.

HLL and the Odisha Government also signed another agreement to set up pathlab/diagnostic centres (Hindlabs) at 32 district headquarters, a major initiative to save the underprivileged from the fleecing by the private operators in the interior districts.

Both the sides teamed up to set up Linear Accelerator, including the building, at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC), Cuttack, again another initiative to ensure affordable healthcare to the people.

“HLL has been in the process of transforming as a total healthcare player, further diversifying from its traditional stronghold areas like condom manufacturing. Through Hindlabs and Lifecare Centres, we are committed to deliver reliable, affordable and quality solutions for quality healthcare to the needy and the less privileged,” Dr Ayyappan said.

“At our LCC, we are providing all type of medicines, surgical, disposables, implants, stents and pacemakers with 10 per cent – 60 per cent discount from MRP,” he added.

HLL opened its first venture of Hindlabs (with path lab, X-Ray and ultrasound facilities) at R K Puram in New Delhi, primarily for Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries, in 2008. Hindlabs in partnership with Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is providing centre management services for the management and operations of CT and MRI centres at ESIC model hospitals at Andheri East in Mumbai and Rajaji Nagar in Bengaluru. In Kerala, Hindlabs has three MRI Scan centres functioning inside the campuses of Medical College Hospitals in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kottayam. All the centres are connected through World Class Teleradiology facility for correct, fast and expert diagnosis report generation.

Further spreading its wings, the Healthcare Services Division started two separate Hindlabs in Mumbai this year. One is Hindlabs pathology lab in Worli which is a referral centre with 22 collection centres across Mumbai. The other one is a high-end imaging centre in Koliwada with latest ultrasound, X-Ray and ECG facilities.