The Hungarian Maltese Charity Service Association provides free medical services to socially underprivileged groups such as homeless people, residents in institutional care institutions, prison inmates and members of the Roma community. Members of these groups are often without stable domicile, which may make it more difficult for them to access the public health system. Homeless people are especially vulnerable to infections and the global re-emergence of tuberculosis (TB).
In recognition of this, the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service Association has since 1995 operated a mobile screening unit – a bus equipped with lung screening equipment – and actively seeks out members of disadvantaged groups to offer them free health screening. The screenings may enable an early diagnosis of tuberculosis, breast and lung cancer and of cardiac and vascular diseases.
A lifesaver on wheels
With €484 000 in support from Norway, the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service Association will now finally be able to replace the 30-year old bus and its outdated medical equipment. A brand new, environmentally friendly bus will be purchased and equipped with state of the art medical equipment, including a digital x-ray machine.
"For a more accurate diagnosis and less impact on the environment, the old x-ray equipment will be replaced by a new, digital picture system. In this way we can have an immediate diagnosis since there is no longer any need to wait for pictures to develop," explains Tabak Lajos, driver of the mobile screening unit.
Thanks to the mobile screening unit, nearly 10 000 people were screened last year. 400 people were referred for further treatment. For these people, the mobile screening unit may well turn out to be a lifesaver on wheels.
The mobile screening unit is one of a total 215 institutions and centres the Hungarian Maltese Charity Association operates across Hungary. The Association’s objective is to assist people in need, the sick, the old, those with physical or social handicaps, the homeless, refugees and pilgrims, and victims of disasters and war.
The new mobile screening unit was inaugurated on 26 May.
Photo: Guri M. Smenes, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Budapest