The Andhra Pradesh government issued a Government Order (GO) on Sunday stating that citizens in the state suffering from chronic illnesses will be given a pension.
According to the GO, those suffering from thalassemia, sickle cell anemia and severe hemophilia will be given a pension of Rs 10,000 each month. In addition to this, the government issued orders to give Rs 5,000 as pension to people suffering from severe bladder disease, those who are paralysed and confined to a wheelchair or bed, and for those with severe muscular dystrophy.
Similarly, those who are in the advanced stages of kidney disease and not getting dialysis, i.e; Stage 3,4,5 patients, will get a pension of Rs 5,000 per month, as long as they can produce a local government medical college certificate, a press release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.
The move is expected to help several people in the state's Uddanam region in Srikakulam district, which sees a high prevalence of nephropathy, a chronic kidney disease.
The Andhra Pradesh government issued four GOs related to the health sector on Saturday. Under Aarogyasri, hospitals provide free treatment to patients below the poverty line, which will be reimbursed by the state government.
As per the directives of the experts committee appointed by the government for the reform of the health sector, Aarogyasri services will now apply to 716 medical specialties in 17 super-specialty hospitals, with these services available in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore, the CMO press note stated.
The state government also said that it would provide daily allowance to patients below poverty line who have undergone surgical procedures under Aarogyasri.
"Financial assistance will be provided from December 1, for patients that are treated under the YSR Aarogyasri scheme and taking rest," the CMO said.
"An amount of Rs 225 per day or Rs 5,000 per month will be provided during the rest time to those who have availed Aarogyasri services. This applies to those who are below the poverty line," the CMO added. This applies from January 1, 2020.
The other GOs included a salary hike for sanitation employees in hospitals.
The salary for sanitation workers in hospitals was hiked to Rs 16,000, and will be effective from January 1. This is applicable for sanitary workers working in the government primary health care centers, community health care centers, area hospitals, district hospitals and medical college hospitals, the state government said.