Free Hepatitis-C treatment for SC, BPL patients

The Haryana government has launched a new scheme for free treatment of Hepatitis-C patients belonging to Scheduled Castes and below poverty line (BPL) category.

The Haryana government has launched a new scheme for free treatment of Hepatitis-C patients belonging to Scheduled Castes and below poverty line (BPL) category.

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Health minister Rao Narender Singh said in a release that all routine and specific tests related to Hepatitis-C would be free for patients of these categories at the district hospitals and the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak.

The minister said that the gastroenterology department of the PGIMS had been made the nodal centre for the management of Hepatitis-C patients.

While a budget of Rs 1.78 crore had been approved for the establishment of laboratory at the gastroenterology department there, a budget of Rs 4.64 crore had been approved for treating the BPL and SC patients free of cost in three districts - Jind, Kaithal and Fatehabad.

A sum of Rs 2 crore had been provided for initiating immediate management of the BPL and the SC category patients, the minister added.