Blood cancer patient told by AIIMS to approach pvt hospital

A slum dweller from Parmat area here, Alka, who had appealed to a local court that the government should either bear her medical expenses or she be allowed euthanasia, was shifted from Lucknow's Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences to AIIMS on October 5.

"After keeping her under observation and carrying out regular checkups for 21 days, including on her mental health, the doctors at AIIMS said that they did not have facilities for her treatment and that Alka should be taken to private hospital Christian Medical College, Vellore, where the treatment would take approximately Rs 20 lakh," Alka's brother Brajesh Tiwari said.

Alka's treatment includes a bone marrow transplant.
"Alka was discharged on October 26 and we returned to Kanpur.... We have taken an appointment with the doctors at Vellore for November 1, but we cannot afford her treatment at the private hospital," Brajesh said.

He claimed that officials of the Union Health Ministry had informed the family that since she cannot be treated at AIIMS, she will have to be shifted to CMC, Vellore.

The officials also told Brajesh that the government cannot intervene with the treatment at a private hospital. "However, they said they will look into the matter once I take her to Vellore," he said.

Union Coal Minister and Kanpur MP Shriprakash Jaiswal, who had requested Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for transferring Alka to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, told PTI that he will inform Azad about Alka being discharged from AIIMS and will make sure that she gets the required treatment at Vellore.

Brajesh said they have tried to contact BSP MP from Hamirpur Ganga Charan Rajput, who had lent a helping hand to the girl after learning of her plight, but he has not responded to their calls.

Rajput had asked for approval from Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to sanction Rs 20 lakh from the MPLAD fund for her treatment.

A local court had issued notices to the central government, the state government and District Magistrate on an appeal filed by Alka on September 30 asking the government to either fund her treatment or allow her euthanasia.