Priyanka

Priyanka
Making health mobile

Priyanka's ambition

My ambition is to start mobile health awareness centres across rural and urban areas of India in order to create a positive impact on healthcare services and education.

I’m a strong believer in preventative measures and have always tried to inspire the same belief in others for the benefit of the community. During my medical education, I started working with three social organisations to provide health benefits and education to people in need. After working for more than four years, I was very aware that resources provided by the Government of India and various health organisations were not being used to their full potential due to a lack of awareness, and at times out of awkwardness.

After doing health checkups in the rural areas of Maharashtra, India, I analyzed that despite the provision of health facilities - including free health checkups, provision of supplements, education about menstrual hygiene, and timely vaccinations - many women and children continued to have poor health. It was disappointing when people did not use the available facilities. Moreover, in rural areas, a lower level of access to the media, internet, and mobile phones was acting as a barrier to informing the public about vital health information.

I believe that mobile awareness centres are the key to changing this scenario. The centres will serve the purpose of guiding and spreading awareness in health workers, service providers and in the general public. They will help people to understand and use the available facilities to their optimal level. Also, people can come at any time for any health and education related queries and get the desired help.

It will be important to reach out to each and every individual, making them aware of the available resources for wellbeing, to help fulfill any deficit in existing facilities, and to make way for the creation of more impactful schemes. Being able to give feedback to the Government will increase the scope of improvement.

I look forward to pursuing my Masters in Public Health with the University of Glasgow, and my internship with the National Health Service, as it offers an opportunity to learn and reproduce advanced techniques for the betterment of society. The University is highly active in research in the modifiable risk factors of high public health importance, which gives me great faith that I can achieve my goals, give back to humanity and spread awareness about a healthy lifestyle.