PESHAWAR: Health department is considering a proposal to establish endowment fund for free treatment of serious ailments including liver, renal and bone marrow transplants, according to officials.

They said that the proposal was being considered on the directives of Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur to provide free medical services to those people, who required transplants and high-cost treatment for other diseases that were not covered in Sehat Card Plus programme.

They said that it was a just a proposal at that stage and a mechanism would be chalked after its approval by health department and go-ahead from provincial cabinet.

Officials said that the chief minister directed the authorities concerned to look into the possibility of establishing the endowment fund as most of the patients could not afford expensive treatment for different diseases.

Official says it will take about four months to materialise, if approved

They said that many patients had approached the chief minister and requested him to help them in free liver, kidney and other transplants. Last year, the provincial government stopped renal and liver transplants on Sehat Card Plus (SCP) in view of its high cost.

State Life Insurance Corporation(SLIC), the executor of SCP in the province, used to sponsor transplants under the cashless health insurance programme but stopped the same last year owing to lack of funds.

Officials said that SLIC required about Rs500 reserve funds to sponsor transplants on behalf of the government. Under the programme, each family of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was entitled to seek free treatment worth Rs1 million per year on SCP and the amount exceeding that limit was paid from reserve funds, they added.

So far, 164 kidney and 64 liver transplants have been conducted through reserve fund. SCP stopped these procedures last year owing to financial crisis. The cost of kidney transplant is Rs1.4 million and that of liver is Rs5 million.

They said that people with damaged kidneys and liver would benefit if the proposal was approved. Additionally, thalassaemia patients will also undergo freely the procedure of bone marrow transplant.

Officials said the health department had also received a proposal from the public sector Institute of Kidney Diseases at Hayatabad Medical Complex to allow it to conduct renal transplants on SCP. It told the department that the facility should be available to patients at IKD and not private hospitals, they said.

The institute has sought Rs200 million for starting free renal transplants, saying it has performed more than 50 transplants in the last one year. Patients were charged less than Rs1 million. Now, score of patients are on waiting list but most of them cannot afford the cost. In its proposal, it has suggested that grant should be allocated to IKD and selection of patients will be made by a committee to be formed by health department.

The chief executive officer of SCP, Mohammad Riaz Tanoli, who attended the meeting held by chief minister regarding endowment fund, told Dawn that at present there was a proposal to provide medical services to patients for transplants.

“After acceptance of the proposal, there will be a model as to how implement the initiative and then a policy will be put in place to be approved by the cabinet,” he said.

However, Dr Riaz said that there would be nothing concrete in the next month or two that regard, he said. “It will take at least four months to materialise the proposal if improved,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024