Rajasthan has recently been credited with a rare achievement of performing free heart surgeries for children. Since 2014 to this date, the state has performed surgeries on 1,002 kids. These were the cases where parents were unable to provide the necessary finance.
Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), the health department handles the expenses of these surgeries by paying the money to the private hospitals. The amount lies from INR 60,000 to INR 2 Lakhs, depending upon the complexity of each individual case.
Earlier, the department used to pay INR 60,000 to the private hospitals. It could go up to INR 1.6 Lakhs per surgery. However now, the limit has exceeded from INR 1.6 Lakhs to INR 2 Lakhs.
Representation Image for heart surgery
Talking about the government sector only 2 facilities namely Sawai Man Singh (SMS) and Jodhpur’s MDM hospital have performed free heart surgery for children in Rajasthan. Other government hospitals are yet not capable of conducting such operations.
As a result, the health department had to include private hospitals in the panel. These are responsible for surgeries involving children with heart defects like the ventricular septal defect and arterial septal defect.
In this regard, the Project Director of RBSK, Dr. Suva Lal, has stated that as of now 15 private hospitals are involved in conducting surgeries of children suffering from heart defects. The hospitals conduct screening of children in government schools, anganwadis, and madrasas.
This helps in diagnosing various disorders that may have been carried by these children. The screening is performed for kids up to 19 years of age and if they are found to have any disorders, free treatment for the heart is arranged for those who can’t afford it.
This is definitely a great achievement by the state of Rajasthan that shows the efficiency of the Health Department. Catering to the needs of children suffering from heart disorders, the government is ensuring improved health situations, which is evident from the statistical figures.
