Relief for SC/ST patients with rare diseases

Currently ₹23.18 crore of unspent allocations exists and this will be used to fund this new scheme. The government will provide ₹10,000 for PET Scan, ₹7 lakh and ₹21 lakh for Autologous and Allogeneic bone marrow transplant, respectively, and ₹1.5 lakh for robotic surgeries, minister said

Bengaluru

K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for health, family welfare and medical education, said for certain rare and high-cost diseases that are not covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme monetary aid will be provided by the state government. (ANI)

The Karnataka government on Thursday said that it has announced monetary aid for members of the scheduled castes/scheduled tribes (SCs/STs) for diseases that are classified as ‘rare’ and ‘high-cost’ in a bid to bring down cost of medical treatment for marginalised sections.

“Aid for several types of diseases is currently being provided under the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka Scheme. However, certain rare and high-cost diseases that are not covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and for such diseases where there is no facility to provide treatment in government hospitals monetary aid will be provided by state government through Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust using unspent SCST/TSP fund allocation,” K Sudhakar, Karnataka’s minister for health, family welfare and medical education, said.

“Currently a total of ₹23.18 crore of unspent allocations exists and this will be used to fund this new scheme. The government will provide ₹10,000 for PET Scan, ₹7 lakh and ₹21 lakh for Autologous and Allogeneic bone marrow transplant, respectively, and ₹1.5 lakh for robotic surgeries,” he added.

Bringing down cost of medical treatment has been used in the past as an election tool as well as cost of treatment has soared in recent years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thousands of doctors and other staff from private hospitals went on strike in 2017 after the then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government’s proposal to implement the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (amendment) bill 2017 -- an amendment to the original Act of 2007.

They had demanded that at least four contentious proposals (out of the proposed 14) be dropped that had gone against Siddaramaiah’s pet Aarogya Bhagya scheme

The private hospital’s associations opposed the proposed bill which includes fines and imprisonment if a surgery goes wrong, fixing prices of specific medical procedures as well as creating a new grievance redressal cell in addition to existing forums including consumer courts and the medical council, among others.