Life-long financial aid after kidney transplant in Bihar

Currently, the Bihar government supports only the procedure by offering ₹3 lakh per transplant to patients having an annual income of less than ₹72,000.

The Bihar government has decided to monetarily support poor patients by paying for their medicines following a kidney transplant.

The Bihar government has now decided to supply free drugs to poor patients who have had kidney transplants. (AFP File / Representative Photo)

Currently, the state government supports only the procedure by offering ₹3 lakh per transplant to patients having an annual income of less than ₹72,000. Given that the recurring cost of medicines post transplant is high — up to ₹15,000 per month — the Bihar government has now decided to supply them free drugs lifelong.

Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Assam are among some other states that already have this scheme. Bihar’s health minister, Mangal Pandey, made this announcement during a seminar on organ transplant that was organised to commemorate the completion of over 50 kidney transplants at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) here on Sunday.

“We will support fully the cost of medicines, whatever the amount, for poor patients who undergo kidney transplant,” Pandey said on the on the sidelines of the seminar.

Asked how much would it cost the exchequer, Pandey said, “as per the initial estimates, we expect to spend around ₹1 crore annually on medicines of such patients.” He said the average cost of medicines post kidney transplant came to around ₹15,000 per patient per month. “Though we have kept an initial average annual estimated expenditure on medicines to be ₹1 crore, the cost on drugs will not be a limiting factor. We are prepared to fund fully the cost of drugs, which now comes to roughly at ₹1.80 lakh annually per patient.”

Asked if the proposal would be put up to the state cabinet, Mangal said, “This was within my power to sanction it. The Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Nitish Kumar government in the state are very considerate. We will be happy if we are able to save even 25 to 50 lives through this benevolent

“By rough estimates, there would be around 100 such patients because only two health facilities — the IGIMS and the Paras HMRI hospital — at present have facilities where kidney transplants are being done. The IGIMS has done 54 kidney transplants with 100% success rate, and Paras would have done some in the last couple of years,” added Kumar.

Earlier, the health minister said there were plans to expand the IGIMS bed strength from 800 to 2800 in about a couple of years.

“We will get space to accommodate 300 beds at the location where the medical college is located at present after its permanent structure is ready shortly. Besides, foundation stone for a 500-bed hospital will be laid within a month or two,” said Pandy.

We have also tasked the Bihar Medical Services Infrastructure Corporation Limited to prepare a detailed project report for a 1200-bed hospital on the IGIMS campus,” Pandey said. Earlier, IGIMS director Dr NR Biswas highlighted the progress of the institution and pitched for making more government health facilities autonomous in the state.