World's First Portable Hospital 'Arogya Maitri Aid Cube' Unveiled

The world's first portable hospital, 'Arogya Maitri Aid Cube,' was unveiled in Gurugram (Haryana) on December 2, 2023. 

About Arogya Maitri Sahayata Cube:

• This is the world's first portable hospital.
• Thiruvananthapuram( Kerala) based government of India’s company, HLL Life Care, is the nodal agency for sourcing the Aarogya Maitri Cube.
• Indigenously designed under Project BHISHM (India Health Initiative for Cooperation Interest and Friendship), the modular trauma management and support system is made up of 72 detachable mini-cubes, each with a specialised station for humanitarian efforts and emergency response. 
• It includes medical equipment and supplies such as a mini-ICU, an operation theatre, a cooking station, food, water, an electricity generator, blood testing equipment, an X-ray machine.
• This portable hospital can handle gunshots, burns, head, spinal cord and chest injuries, minor surgeries, fractures and major bleeding.
• It can treat more than 200 patients.
• These cubes are lightweight and portable, and can be rapidly deployed anywhere from airdrop to ground transportation.
• The treatment of the patients can be started by making the hospital ready in just 8 minutes.
• It costs about Rs 1.5 crore to build any hospital of this type.
• This hospital can be sent anywhere by air route, by land or by sea.
• The responsibility of building this hospital was given to the Defense Ministry and Health Ministry a year ago.

Design:

• It consists of 72 cubes that can be combined to form a special cage capable of accommodating 36 mini-cubes. The mini-cubes are filled with everything needed for the survival of 100 individuals for a period of 48 hours.
• The two master cubes are designed to be interconnected, allowing them to hold up to 200 survivors. Each Master Cube, consisting of 36 mini-cubes, has a total weight of less than 750 kg.
• It relies on the Rubik's Cube concept and each cube is designed to weigh less than 20 kg, making it easy to carry manually.
• The structure will also include a tablet-based application that can operate all 72 cubes.

Project BHISHM” (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri)

• In February 2020 Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the Union Ministry of Defence to create something original and unique in health and medical care to deal with emergencies.
• The Ministry of Defence set up a Task Force on BHISHM headed by Air Vice Marshal Tanmoy Roy. The task force's goal was to create a versatile and mobile medical facility that could be swiftly deployed during natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and intense conflicts. 
• The task force conceptualised the ‘Aarogya Maitri Cube’.
• The Aarogya Maitri Cube was first unveiled at the Med Tech Expo held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in July 2023, during the G20 Helath Minister’s meeting. The Aarogya Maitir Cube was first offered to Myanmar officials.