GEORGE NEWS - The Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Train brings accessible healthcare facilities to George from Monday 19 April until the end of the month, at the George train station.
Advanced cancer screenings will take place from 26 to 30 April.
The services include a healthcare clinic, eye-care clinic, dental clinic, and a counselling and psychology clinic.
The free healthcare services offered include healthcare education, a complete physical assessment, cancer treatments, pap smears and prostate cancer testing (PSA blood test). Patients pay R5 for the entire script of medicines.
Eye care
The eye care clinic services include free eye tests, spectacles (R30) and eye drops (R5). The eye clinic does not issue bi-focal lenses or eye operations.
Counselling and psychology
The counselling and psychology clinic services include one-on-one sessions and workshops targeting schools, communities, workers and teachers. Topics covered include leadership, drug and alcohol abuse, sexuality and tools to deal with physical and emotional abuse.
The dental clinic offers free screening and education, and the extraction and cleaning of teeth at only R10.
All the health services are free to children 15 years and younger. All services are offered on a first come, first served basis. Bring along your clinic card and your child's immunisation certificate.
The train opens at 08:00 and closes at 14:00. Each patient will be issued with a sticker upon arrival. Patients are encouraged to come early. Strict Covid-19 protocols will be observed.
History and values
The Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Train - the world’s first primary healthcare hospital on wheels - uses the existing rail network in South Africa to make quality medical care an accessible reality for many of South Africa’s most remote communities.
This nineteen-coach train, with its twenty resident staff members, fondly known as the “miracle train”, carries the most modern medical equipment on board.
The dental clinic offers free screening and education, and the extraction and cleaning of teeth at only R10.
Phelophepa is indeed a journey of hope that continues to make a history of caring. The name ‘Phelophepa’ combines elements of Sotho and Tswana and, roughly translated, means ‘good, clean health’ - exactly what this travelling health clinic provides.
The first of our much loved Phelophepa Health Trains started operating in 1994. The Phelophepa Health Train has shown incredible growth since its humble beginnings as a three-carriage eye clinic.
The train travels for 35 weeks each year visiting a different rural community every week or two weeks throughout eight provinces. The success of the Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Train, together with the increased demand for healthcare services set in motion plans for another train. That dream became a reality when the second train, Phelophepa II, began operation in March 2012.
Although the Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Trains can only be in an area for a limited time, the goal is to supplement and support existing facilities to make sure the residents can continue benefiting from quality healthcare once the train has departed.
Education and empowerment that leave better equipped and informed communities in its tracks is a core value of the Phelophepa programme.
• Before the train rolls into town, teams are sent out to alert the community of the days the train will be delivering services. A comprehensive social mobilisation strategy is developed and implemented in collaboration with all of the local stakeholders in each community.
• Relationships are established with the existing healthcare providers so that patients can be referred and continue to receive the care they need.
• While the train is in the area, screening and healthcare education are the primary concerns. Nursing teams visit local schools to screen children for health-related problems and educate them about basic healthcare.
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