Kathmandu, June 4 Under the Impoverished Citizen Treatment Fund programme, the government provides free treatment for eight diseases to patients at selected hospitals. As per the data with hospitals, a large amount of money is being spent for the treatment of kidney patients. From July 2017 to May 2018, as many as 4,398 patients received free treatment for kidney diseases at 49 hospitals across the country. As per the data with the Management Division under the Impoverished Citizen Treatment Fund Secretariat, Rs 499 million has already been spent for the treatment of kidney patients within 10 months. Prakash Ghimire, a paramedic at ICTFS, said that of the 49 hospitals that provided free treatment for kidney diseases, National Kidney Centre alone received Rs 109 million for treatment of 720 patients in the last 10 months. Data also shows that Aarogya Swasthya Prathisthan, Lalitpur, has been provided with Rs 38 million for the treatment of 292 kidney patients; and Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre, Bhaktapur, has been provided with Rs 27 million for the treatment of 486 patients. Gautam Buddha Community Heart Hospital was given Rs 31 million for 288 patients, while Nepal Medical College was provided with Rs 27 million for 140 patients. Similarly, Rs 429 million was spent on 10,608 cancer patients in the last 10 months. As many as 17 hospitals provided treatment for cancer. Of them, BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital provided treatment to 4,822 patients. Of the total fund spent on cancer patients, Rs 154 million was provided to BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Rs 91 million to Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital; and Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Centre was provided with Rs 84 million. Similarly, Bir Hospital was provided Rs 17mn for the treatment of 665 patients while Civil Service Hospital was provided Rs 20mn.