People suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and undergoing treatment in the hospitals empanelled under the NTR Vaidya Seva (NTRVS) scheme will also receive ₹2,500 as monthly pension.
The pension facility is currently available only to those undergoing treatment in the government hospitals for stages III, IV and V of the CKD as per the G.O. RT No. 418 dated July 20, 2017.
As per the G.O. RT No. 288 issued on Thursday on behalf of Special Chief Secretary (health, medical and family welfare) Poonam Malakondaiah, the facility is now extended to patients undergoing dialysis at private hospitals empanelled under NTRVS, and it will be administered through the NTR Bharosa portal operated by the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) from the funds of the A.P. Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
The Chief Executive Officer of SERP and the Commissioner of A.P. Vaidya Vidhana Parishad have been vested with the duty to implement the scheme.
It may be noted that the government, in response to the high prevalence of CKD in the Uddanam region of Srikakulam district, had decided to find out its etiology.
Expert panel
An expert committee had been constituted to study the details of the population afflicted with the CKD of Unknown Etiology (CKDu), estimate its prevalence, suggest interventional measures to contain and control the problem, and evolve research strategies.
It was against that backdrop, the State government had introduced pension to help patients meet the expenditure incurred by them on saving themselves from the disease, which, at stages III, IV and V, was fatal if not dealt with the desired urgency.