India’s ‘Bhishm Cubes’: A Lifesaving Medical Aid To Ukraine

India gifted Ukraine four Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (Bhishm) cubes on Friday, which are mobile hospitals designed to deliver emergency medical care, officials confirmed.

In a post on the social media platform ‘X’, PM Modi stated, “Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (BHISHM) is a unique effort which will ensure medical facilities in a rapidly deployable manner. It consists of cubes which contain medicines and equipment for medical care. Today, presented BHISHM cubes to President Zelenskyy.”

What are Bhishm cubes?

The Bhishm initiative was launched under Project Aarogya Maitri, aimed at supplying critical medical resources to developing countries as part of humanitarian aid efforts. The goal is to provide essential facilities and equipment for emergency medical care in a user-friendly and quickly deployable format, according to officials.

These mobile hospitals are equipped with essential medicines and medical tools, neatly packed into 15-inch cubic boxes. Each cube is organized to address various medical emergencies and injuries, such as those resulting from wars or natural disasters.

These compact cubes are designed for easy transport, featuring strong, adjustable platforms that allow for multi-modal transportation, whether by air, sea, land, or drone. Weighing no more than 20 kg, they can also be carried by individuals.

Officials mentioned that a single cube can handle approximately 200 emergency scenarios, including trauma, bleeding, burns, fractures, and shock, while also facilitating initial triage and classification. Additionally, the cubes are equipped to support basic surgeries and can generate limited amounts of power and oxygen for short durations.

The decision to provide four Bhishm cubes was made ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine, a country currently embroiled in an ongoing conflict with Russia.