“Initially, we had a preliminary set-up where we had doctors on a monthly honorarium of Rs 3,000 as well as nurses, a small room and nominal facilities. Looking at this, the university thought that there should be better health facilities for its students and staff members,” said university Vice-Chancellor Dr Vijay Khole.

Subsequently, the university submitted a proposal to the University Grants Commission for a proper building exclusively meant for providing health services. While the UGC assisted with funds to the tune of Rs 75 lakh, the university put in an equal sum.

“The development of the centre will be in two phases. In phase-I, we will provide health facilities in which moderate amenities for heart ailments and diabetes, among others, will be included,” said Khole.

Significantly, the second phase will see its conversion into a centre for students in public health and research. Saying that while traditional universities are largely cut off from health sciences, Khole stressed that this health centre would be an attempt to lay particular emphasis on public health. Accordingly, the centre will take up aspects of economics, law and social science studies with respect to healthcare.

“It implies that we will, for instance, provide healthcare with a social touch and make an attempt to remove stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS and leprosy, to mention a few,” added the Vice-Chancellor.

The centre will be a collaborative effort between the Mumbai University and the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). While the entire personnel including doctors, nurses and technical staff will be appointed by MUHS, infrastructure and facilities will be provided by Mumbai University, which has spent an initial amount of about Rs 25 lakh on equipment.

The centre will charge a nominal fee from staff and students availing the facility. “Prior to this centre, the campus has always been devoid of proper health facilities and all good universities must have good healthcare services. Also, it will help create research on health policy issues in future,” said a senior academician.