LAHORE, May 23: The chief minister’s initiative of extending financial assistance to poor patients is often jeopardised by procedural hiccups as is evident from the case of a cancer patient whose family is yet to get Rs1.5 million, some five months after his death in December 2011.

A farmer by profession and father of four daughters and a son, Afzal Nadeem (39), of Basti Muhammad Ismail Colony, Khanpur tehsil, Rahim Yar Khan, was the only breadwinner of his family.

He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and was admitted to Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Rawalpindi, in September 2010 where he later died after undergoing a complicated procedure on Dec 11, 2011.

According to Dr Muhammad Ajmal, who is serving as deputy medical superintendent (DMS) at Lahore General Hospital, brother of the deceased, Afzal had filed application for financial assistance with the CM Secretariat on Jan 19, 2011.

He said when the CM’s Secretariat sought a report on the financial status of the applicant, the Khanpur deputy district officer (Revenue), categorically mentioned in his report that the applicant was owner of a bicycle and his monthly income was Rs6,000 only.

The Bahawalpur commissioner and the Rahim Yar Khan DCO had also declared the patient deserving in their respective reports.

“As the process was under way, the condition of my brother turned critical owing to delay in a vital surgery as his family had nothing to pay for the treatment cost,” Dr Ajmal said.

Meanwhile, he said, his family sold cattle, a tractor-trolley and some household items to arrange the money and finally the patient underwent three sessions of chemotherapy before bone marrow transplant. The family had to borrow Rs2.8 million to meet the treatment cost that totaled up to Rs5 million.

The patient suffered complications during the painful process of chemotherapy for nine months or so.

The situation became critical for the family when the hospital administration prescribed allogenic stem cell transplant to the patient and asked them to deposit the approximate cost of Rs1.5 million for the treatment.

“Finally, we borrowed the required amount and my elder brother underwent the procedure. Unfortunately, he could not survive,” Dr Ajmal said.

After Afzal’s death the bereaved family approached every official concerned, from those in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to the offices of the Bahawalpur commissioner, district coordination officers (DCOs) and deputy district officer Revenue, but failed to get the monetary compensation.

He said after the death of his brother he got a letter issued by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, informing the family that he had issued an amount of Rs1.5 million for the patient’s treatment.

The letter also expressed sympathies of the chief minister on behalf of the PML-N government to the family saying he hoped “early recovery” of the patient, Dr Ajmal said.

When contacted, additional secretary to chief minister Abdul Qayyum said he would be in a position to do something if the legal heirs of the victim contacted him during his official timing.

Such procedural delays have also been haunting some dengue victims and their families, besides the victims of Punjab Institute of Cardiology scam.