Assam Health Minister Himata Biswa Sarma announced a scheme on June 2, 2012 under which children under twelve years of age suffering from Leukemia (blood cancer) will be provided treatment free of cost, according to a health.india.com report.
"We are working on a scheme under which free treatment will be provided to children below twelve years who suffer from leukaemia. You know that cancer is very common in this part of the country and the treatment of Leukaemia is an expensive proposition", Sarma said and added that the scheme would give financial relief to the parents of these children. 'We are working on the scheme and if everything goes on as planned, we would be in a position to launch the scheme by Independence Day this year,' said the Minister.
The Assam government will soon launch a scheme to support the cost of treatment for Leukaemia among children below twelve years of age. Sarma also informed the media persons that the government had already floated tenders from reputed health institutions across the country for setting up a multi-speciality hospital at Amingaon. The proposed hospital will offer free leukaemia treatment to under-twelve children.
The Health Minister said that 315 children suffering from congenital heart complications would be sent to Bangalore’s Narayana Hrudyalaya this year to get treated by specialists as part of the state government’s ongoing programme.“The children, all below fourteen years of age, will fly in batches along with one of his or her parents from Nov 9 this year to March 30 next year to be treated at Narayana Hrudyalaya in a phased manner,” he said and added that six such children accompanied by their parents have left for Bangalore Saturday. The State has already treated over 500 such children successfully in the past years, the Minister said.
'The government is spending in excess of Rs 200,000 on each child under the programme, which includes airfare, lodging and medical expenses,'Sarma added.
