Source: http://www.indianexpress.com,
Abantika Ghosh: New Delhi, Tue Jan 17 2012
Poor patients will soon get free treatment at the country’s premier medical institute without having to run from pillar to post. The Institute Body of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Monday decided to give free treatment to all BPL card holders. AIIMS has been asked to prepare a proposal and submit it to the Union Health Ministry for sanction of funds under the plan head for the next financial year. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad.
“Currently, poor patients can avail free treatment at AIIMS only if they apply for funding from the National Illness Fund, which is a long-drawn process. The idea is to simplify it so that poor can be treated free of cost at AIIMS in the same way it is done at Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospitals,” said an official who was present at the meeting.
For now, the treatment of BPL patients will be paid for by the Union Health Ministry, but if the future plans of the Planning Commission fructify, AIIMS may be able to cross subsidise the treatment of poor patients by generating revenue through a variety of means including leasing of space for para-clinical facilities and rationalisation of user charges, sources said.
A decision was also taken to form a committee comprising faculty members to ensure that there were no incidents of caste harassment in the institute. AIIMS had witnessed recurrent allegations of casteism in the students’ hostel and against staff members belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment