Kathmandu, August 1

More than 17,000 people received medical treatment under the government’s Poor Citizens’ Medical Treatment Programme in the last fiscal, officials said.

Altogether 17,218 new and old patients suffering from various diseases like cancer, kidney failure and spinal cord complications, among others, received treatment from various 52 health institutions across the country, said Logistics Management Division of the Department of Health Services.

Of the total Rs 1.5 billion spent in their treatment, Rs 1 billion has already been released while the remaining Rs 500 million is yet to be released, the division said. The government has set aside Rs 1.18 billion for the programme for the current fiscal.

The government has been providing monetary assistance for the treatment of patients suffering from various eight major diseases, which include cancer, kidney failure, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.

Under this programme, a maximum of Rs 820,000 is provided to each patient requiring dialysis, transplant and medicines.

The beneficiaries of the government programme include 8,646 cancer patients followed by 3,342 suffering from heart diseases. Likewise, 568 patients with sickle-cell, 176 with spinal cord injury, 67 suffering from head injury, 17 living with Parkinson’s disease and nine with Alzheimer’s disease also received government assistance.