JOIN USThe Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), part of the Department of Health and Family Welfare will soon launch the scheme that will provide BPL families in rural as well as urban areas highly expensive treatments for illnesses like cardiac, cancer, neuro surgery, nephrology, burns, poly-trauma, ophthalmology, paediatric and neo-natal surgeries, general surgery and ENT at no cost.
The Rs 42-crore programme in its pilot phase will be launched in Gulbarga Division on December 25 and will cover about 12 lakh BPL families. The Division includes Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary and Koppal districts. SAST will receive Rs 7.6 crore from Karnataka Health System and Development and Reform Project (KHSDRP), under a World Bank-aided project.
“Under the scheme, we will empanel hospitals and nursing homes from across the State. We will also distribute Survarna Arogya Suraksha Scheme cards to every family with five members, in these five districts. We are introducing it in these districts as they are the most backward in the State,” said Dr P Pujari, Joint Director, SAST.
A person requiring emergency cardiac surgery can go to one of the empanelled hospitals and produce the card to receive free treatment. SAST will reimburse the hospital the cost of the treatment. The scheme also covers the patient’s follow-up treatment,