Mangaluru: The minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader said that the department has been taking several initiatives so that the health of every resident in the State is in good hands.
Addressing a press meet at circuit house, on Tuesday August 4, the Minister said that not only BPL card holders but even APL card holders can apply for various schemes under the governmental welfare schemes.
Naming few of the schemes such as, Karnataka Rajya Arogya Kavacha, Rajiv Arogyabhagya, Jyothi Sanjeevini health scheme, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), schemes for governmental workers and others available under the government banner, Khader said that they have made these schemes however, people are not aware of it.
“It is important that people have the knowledge about these schemes in order to avail it and we will try our best to make this process more user-friendly. These benefits will not be limited to governmental hospitals alone but patients admitted in private hospitals may also make use”, he added.
Giving out details Khader informed that every identified hospital will have ‘Arogya Mitra’ (a person who will assist about the governmental schemes) in a kiosk administrated and monitored by the State government. The people do not need to provide any other document apart from the Ration Card. A BPL holder will get the entire treatment free under various schemes listed while an APL holder may get a reimbursement from 50% to 70% depending on the scheme and treatment an individual has opted for. In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi alone there are around 14 ‘Arogya Mitra’ and State regulated kiosks, he stated.
Further he said that under these schemes 189 treatments of Cancer, 145 procedures of heart related issues, 50 Neurology related issues, 25 Pediatric issues along with neo-natal procedures, few Urology treatments, Kidney transplant and treatment,Legal medical as well as even stone removal will be covered.
Mangaluru will be the first city in the State to experience the launch of these welfares. However, the administration as well as the monitoring will be done from Bengaluru across the State.
“Apart from this, the State government is also planning for a Health Insurance benefits especially for road accident victims. Karnataka will launch ‘Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme’ very soon. The scheme, will give insurance cover of around Rs 25,000 to accident victims for 48 hours in empanelled hospitals across the state. The estimated budget of this scheme is Rs 72 cr however only a part of the amount is set to be released in the next few days”, the minister said
Around 178 hospitals in the taluk and district along with 17 private hospitals are plugged into this scheme. For the people in the bordering state and outskirts, to make things easier, the Karnataka government will also have association with hospitals in Hyderbad, Solapu and Kholapur.
In all, people will be able to avail schemes 192 Hospital in and around the State in the Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme. To make it burden free only one doctor has been assigned every two hospitals, Khader added.
The cold storage facility at the mortuary of Government Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru can only accommodate 12 bodies. However, 22 unclaimed bodies were crammed into three cold storages, few months ago, asserting to which the Health minister said that something people do not come to claim these bodies or come late, thus we are planning extended the mortuary by getting 8 more cold storages.
