M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Nov 6: The Jharkhand government has launched the Jharkhand Hriday Chikitsa Yojana in an effort to provide free heart screening and treatment to people who cannot afford treatments or even checkups.
Under this, Palamu Civil Surgeon Dr Vijay Kumar Singh along with his team has sent a contingent of 25 patients facing heart conditions to RIMS Ranchi. The 25 patients also include 14 children accompanied by their parents.
This scheme offers free screening by reputed cardiologists in RIMS Ranchi. Along with this, the state government is ready to bear all costs in the event of necessary cardiac interventions like angiography, bypass surgery, stenting, etc. In case the patient is severe, the programme will provide free surgery/ treatment to patients at the Satya Sai super specialty hospitals either at Rajkot or Ahmadabad.
Talking of the patients sent to RIMS, district programme manager Deepak Kumar Gupta said, “There are 14 children among the 25, one of whom is just 5 months old. The baby has not even been christened by the parents, so the medical staff calls the baby by his father’s name. Other children are 14, 8 and even six years old.
Gupta further said, “The patients that have been sent also include nine women. All the patients will be screened by a panel of cardiologists at RIMS. Their transportation both to and from Ranchi will be free of cost here.”
The 25 patients were selected by the doctors of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram, where, in their preliminary diagnosis they were found to be suffering from or having cardiac issues on the basis of their complaints.
Gupta said thst Palamu has a fleet of 32 doctors under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram who have been assigned to examine persons coming to them with heart problems.
Meanwhile, sources have claimed that the government has signed a MoU with an NGO named PM Services and Research Foundation for free heart screening and treatment or surgery.
