Over the course of three days in late February, BUDS-UK and BUDS-BT ran a free medical camp serving 500 patients across four remote villages on the western edge of the Batticaloa District. Many of those treated had not seen a doctor in over a year — for some, it was the first medical consultation of their lives.
The camp was staffed by volunteer general practitioners, an ophthalmologist, a dentist, and a paediatrician, alongside nursing and pharmacy support. Services on offer included general consultations, blood-pressure and diabetes screening, eyecare assessments with free prescription glasses dispensed on-site, dental check-ups, and a paediatric clinic for children under five.
A particular focus this year was non-communicable disease screening. Of the patients screened, 64 were newly identified as having high blood pressure and 38 with previously undiagnosed diabetes. All of those patients were registered with their nearest Medical Officer of Health (MOH) division for follow-up care and were issued with two months of starter medication.
The camp also dispensed reading glasses to 112 patients and identified a further 9 patients requiring cataract surgery, who have been referred to Batticaloa Teaching Hospital with their fees underwritten by the BUDS Medical Fund.
"In these villages there is no public transport to a clinic," explained one of the volunteer doctors. "A free camp on the doorstep is sometimes the only realistic point of access. The numbers we screened in three days tell you everything about the unmet need."
BUDS-UK runs medical camps quarterly. The next is scheduled for May 2026 in the Verugal Division.
